For the families of two of the migrant workers from West Bengal who were among the 20 persons crushed to death in Shahpur early on Tuesday, the question that has arisen is who will repay their debts.
A girder launcher, a special purpose mobile gantry crane used to build bridges and install girders in highway projects, collapsed while work was underway on the Samruddhi Expressway near Shahapur in Thane district. The Samruddhi Expressway aims to connect Mumbai with Nagpur.
Ganesh Roy, 43, and Pardip Roy, 34, lost their lives in the incident. Both were from Dhupguri block in Jalpaiguri. Ganesh was from Paschim Daukimari while Pradip was from Uttar Kathulia.
Ganesh’s uncle Manesh Roy said, “Ganesh left home nearly six months back to work at a construction firm in Maharashtra. On Tuesday morning, we received a phone call from one of the staff of VSL India Pvt Ltd saying that he died in the accident. He was the sole earning member of the family. He has left behind his elderly mother, wife and three minor children.”
One of Ganesh’s colleagues said, “He told us that he had taken a loan of about ₹50,000 from a private money lender for personal needs and came to Maharashtra to make a living and repay the loan. He used to pay around ₹3,500 every month to the private money lender as an EMI. Now who would be paying the rest of his EMIs. He would have not come so far, leaving his elderly mother, wife and three kids if he would have got the job in West Bengal.”
Pradip Roy’s cousin Swapan Roy said, “Pradip was the sole bread earner of the family and he is survived by his mother, wife and two minor children. He went to Maharashtra about five months back. He never knew that his life would end in such a mishap. We have not yet informed his family after getting the shocking news on Tuesday morning.” The question that may haunt the families for weeks to come after they recover from the shock is who will repay the debts and if they will be hounded by money lenders.
GPS Delayed Disaster Response
It took five hours for the teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Thane Disaster Response Force (TDRF) to reach Sarlambe village in Shahapur taluka where the tragic accident killed 20 people.
NDRF commander Deepak Tiwari said, “Our team relied on Google maps for navigation. The poor road construction, potholes and connectivity led us to the wrong route and we were stuck at a dead end in Shahapur.” He said the team had to reverse their vehicles on the main road at midnight and find an alternative route due to hundreds of potholes and poor connectivity.
“The delay significantly impacted the rescue operation and we could reach the location sometime between 4am and 4.30am. The TDRF teams also arrived at the scene at around 5.30 am, facing similar challenges due to poor road conditions and connectivity,” Tiwari said.
He said they were informed about the accident at around 1am and two teams were immediately dispatched. Their officials used Google maps but the road shown on the map did not exist. They also faced difficulties owing to the unpaved road on which heavy machinery could not be moved.
Yasin Tadvi, Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC) chief of Thane, said, “Our officials were sent as soon as we received the information. They were not able to easily find the accident spot due to poor roads. They asked the locals for an alternative route and then they reached the location. Soon after reaching the site, they started the rescue operation along with the NDRF team but it was challenging as the launcher was very heavy. It took time to cut it and remove the trapped people from the debris.”
