One person died and two others sustained grievous injuries after the scaffolding of an under-construction building collapsed in Dharavi on Sunday night.
Officials from Dharavi police station said the incident occurred around 10.30 p.m. on Sunday, but was reported only at 5.55 a.m. on Monday.
“The iron scaffolding on which the workers would stand for concretisation work had been erected next to the building. The scaffolding crashed onto a pedestrian and a passing autorickshaw in which a passenger was travelling,” Suresh Patil, senior police inspector, Dharavi police station, told The Hindu .
All three victims were rushed to Sion Hospital, where auto driver Shahdad Ali Ansari (32) was declared brought dead. The other two — Shyamlal Jaiswar (50) and Shahid Ali Khan (35) — have been admitted to the emergency ward. The doctors said their condition is stable.
“Mr. Jaiswal and Mr. Khan have sustained head injuries. We are monitoring their condition,” an on-duty assistant medical officer said.
Meanwhile, the Dharavi police have registered an FIR against the engineer and the contractor of the project. “The under-construction building belongs to the MHADA and work was being carried out by Shirke Constructions. We have registered an FIR against the contractor and the engineer of the company under Section 304(2) and Section 338 of the Indian Penal Code,” Mr. Patil said.
Every day, Ansari would start and end his day at PMGP Colony in Dharavi. On Sunday night too, he was dropping his last passenger for the day before heading home. Just as Mr. Khan alighted, the scaffolding came down on the vehicle, killing Ansari, while injuring Mr. Khan and the pedestrian, Mr. Jaiswar.
Riyasuddin Ansari, his friend, recalls the horror. “My auto was right behind his. He entered the lane to drop the last passenger, while I waited outside. I saw the scaffolding fall on his autorickshaw. It completely crushed the front part of the vehicle under which Ansari was trapped. Those visuals are still haunting me,” he said.
Ansari, a Class VI dropout from Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh, was the sole breadwinner in the family. He is survived by his wife Rabia Khatoon (30), and children Itira Bano (6), Saida Khatoon (3), and eight-month-old Mohammed Ali.
On Monday, a post-mortem was performed. Forensic doctors at Sion Hospital’s post-mortem centre said Ansari had died of multiple injuries.
His family, however, has refused to claim his body till their demands are met. “The family stays in a rented house and my brother was the only earning member. Where will his family stay now? What about his children’s education? We want a house for the family and his children’s education facilitated. Till then we will not claim the body,” his brother Nazakat Ali Ansari said.
