Mumbai: Two people including an eight-year-old girl were killed and at least six others were injured after suffering electric shocks at a temporary cold drink stall near the Kalachowki Vibhag Sarvajanik Utsav Mandal pandal in Lalbaug early on Sunday.
Preliminary inspection revealed that the installation of the temporary meter was faulty,” a Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking official told Hindustan Times. BEST officials subsequently inspected the site and found that a temporary electricity meter, numbered M217392, in the name of the mandal had been installed improperly. “A notice has been issued to the mandal for faulty meter installation. “People collapsed in a heap on top of my niece amid the chaos, which likely led to her death as she was a little girl. Ragini Yadav’s father, who works as a truck driver, was around Vapi when he was informed about the incident, and he rushed back to Mumbai amid heavy traffic. The family received Ragini’s body around 4pm from KEM Hospital and cremated her at Mankhurd later in the evening.
At 2.42am on Sunday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) fire brigade received information about a fire near the mandal’s pandal. The Kalachowkie police have booked the cold drink stall owner, Kamal Shetty, under sections 125 (rash or negligent acts that endanger human life) and 106 (1) (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Because a wire from the temporary electrical connection got entangled around one of the devotees’ legs and several people suffered electric shocks, “The incident occurred.
Electricity supply was immediately switched off and the area was cordoned off as a precautionary measure, civic officials said. “The fatal incident took place at a cold drink stall situated approximately 15 metres away from the temporary meter cabin,” a BEST spokesperson said. Pratik Rane, a representative of the mandal, said the electrocution incident did not happen in their pandal but in a neighbouring pandal where devotees had queued up for mukha darshan. Ragini Yadav’s aunt, Kismati Yadav, said the incident occurred around 2am, as the family was heading back home instead of going into the Ganpati pandal as the crowd was massive. “We had stopped near a cold drink shop outside the mandap to let the crowd pass when the incident occurred,” said Yadav. The family said they were yet to take a call about following up with the police and filing a case.
