Bridge collapse: Family, friends of missing people hoping against hope

Chose to drive bus
State transport (ST) bus driver Shrikant Kamble (46) from Chiplun was behind the wheel of the ill-fated Jaigad-Mumbai bus.

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Shrikant Kamble and Mahendra Kamble

Accompanying him on this ride was his 17-year-old son, Mahendra, who was heading to Mumbai for a college admission interview. Milind, Shrikant's eldest son and engineer in Sangli, said, "Mahendra had an interview on Wednesday. Our father asked to be allowed to drive the bus to ferry him from our home to Mumbai."

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Mama's boy
Aves Chavgule (18), recently cleared his safety officer examination in Goa and aspired to work abroad just like his father.

Aves Chavgule and Asif Chavgule

He had an appointment at the passport office in Malad yesterday and boarded the bus with cousin Asif (25). Aves' friend, Asim Shaikh, said the teenager dreamt of buying a house for his mother. "Asif had worked abroad and was familiar with the passport application process. So, he accompanied his nephew since he wasn't familiar with Mumbai."

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People's leader
VK Desai, who was the Jaigad-Mumbai bus' conductor, was a representative of the bus drivers/conductors union, said a colleague.

Vilas Desai

He was on the way to Mumbai for some union-related work. "He had often helped us raise our voices against our superiors," said the colleague.

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Ominous farewell
Ramesh Kadam (30), a passenger and pharma firm employee, was returning after marking his grandmother's death anniversary in Chiplun.

Ramesh Kadam

He had married a year ago, said father-in-law Ramesh Gajmal. "We never thought our goodbye hug could be our last."

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'Will come back home'
"I am fine. Once I reach Mumbai, I will call you. Don't worry. I will come back home during Ganpati festival," was Giragum resident Sunil Baikar's last conversation with his mother in Ratnagiri district before he boarded the Jaigad-Mumbai bus, along with wife Sneha (27), her sister, Deepali Balekar (30), and her son, Aneesh.

Sunil and Sneha

The family was returning from Sneha's funeral in Khandala. Sunil's brother Pramod, who stays with their mother, said he had suggested that the family put off their return to Mumbai by at least a day.

Stalled by work
"His last seen on WhatsApp shows 11.22 pm on Tuesday," said Sayali Bane, wife of 36-year-old Jayesh, who went missing in the Mahad tragedy. She claims to have talked to him around an hour before the buses were swept by the floodwaters.

Jayesh Bane

A father of twins and garment company employee Jayesh was a frequent traveller on that route since his native was near Rajapur. "He went to Solgaon on Sunday night for some work, which took a day longer to get completed. Had he reached home on Tuesday as scheduled, we would not have seen this day," said Snehal Bane, his cousin. His kids, Mayank and Mrunmayi, studying in Std IV, have not been told of the tragedy.

Lucky escape
Dr Adil Chagla, senior neurosurgeon at KEM Hospital, had a narrow escape while returning home from Chiplun with his wife and sister.

Dr Adil Chagla

He drove across the bridge just 10 minutes before it collapsed. "It gives me the chills that minutes after I passed, the bridge collapsed," he said. Dr Chagla often scouts the area around the bridge to set up a medical trauma centre.

(By Chaitraly Deshmukh from Pune, and Vinod Kumar Menon, Rupsa Chakraborty, Saurabh Vaktania and Pallavi Smart from Mumbai)