At least six persons fell in an open chamber in Indiranagar in Turbhe MIDC and two of them received minor injuries. The construction work of the chamber was started a little before the arrival of the monsoon and it was left incomplete.
After the first heavy rainfall, the chamber was clogged with garbage and water flooded across the road, submerging the chamber. People walking along the stretch could not notice the chamber during heavy rainfall and fell into it.
Open chamber not visible due to water-logging
Mahesh Kotiwale, the sub-city chief of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) faction said that it is fortunate that no one was injured severely. “The open chamber can be fatal during heavy rainfall as it becomes invisible underwater,” said Kotiwale. He added that despite having brought the issue to the notice of civic officials, no concrete step was taken. Finally, the local residents came forward and barricaded the chamber with plastic sheets and other materials to prevent a major incident.
The open chamber is located near Bagade Company at Indiranagar in Turbhe MIDC and water logging during the monsoon has been a recurring issue. After repeated demands from locals and Shiv Sena (UBT) group, the civic body started work on two chambers to allow water to be released. However, the demand was reportedly ignored by the Turbhe ward of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC).
Suspend officials, blacklist contractors, protestors demand
“The Engineering Department of NMMC was expected to complete the work of the chamber before the onset of monsoon. But they started the work ten-fifteen days before the arrival of the monsoon and left it incomplete,” alleged Kotiwale. He added that they staged a protest at the Turbhe ward office on Tuesday against the laxity of civic officials. “The civic administration did not take any action despite demanding the completion of the work several times. Therefore, a sit-in protest was held at the Turbhe ward office,” said Kotiwale. They demanded that the officials concerned should be suspended and the contractor should be blacklisted. Meanwhile, officials at Turbhe ward assured that the matter would be investigated and action taken for delay and negligence.
