27 July,2014 07:27 AM IST | | Dimple Bhavsar
Two minors fell into an open portion of a dug-up road in Kandivli when they lost control of their bike. They were declared dead on arrival at the hospital
Mathuradas Extension Road
When the rains finally arrived in the city, there were news reports of wall collapses, building collapses and more. Though there has hardly been any rainfall in the city in the past few days, the monsoon has still managed to claim two more victims, this time, in a road accident.
Three months ago, the BMC had dug up a portion of the Mathuradas Extension Road for repairs. PIC/KAUSHIK THANEKAR
On Saturday afternoon, two teenagers met with an accident when they lost control of the bike they were riding and fell into a huge open drain at Mathuradas Extension Road in Kandivli West. The hole had been dug to repair the drainage line about three months ago by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which had stopped work one-and-a-half months ago because of the monsoon.
The incident took place at 1.15 pm on Saturday. The deceased have been identified as Zuber Rafik Khan (17) and Riyaz Ahmed Siddique (17), both residents of Kandivli. According to eyewitnesses, the duo was riding a bike at a very high speed and lost control as they neared the open pit. Though the area was barricaded, the high speed of the vehicle ensured that it broke into the barricade and fell directly into the gaping hole, eyewitnesses said.
The fire officials rushed to the spot within 15 minutes of the incident and the rescue and search operation was on for 30 minutes. The area of the dug up portion was 20x22 feet and was 25 feet deep. Both the boys were rushed to the Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivli where they were declared dead on arrival. The teenagers were in class 12 and lived in Kandivli's Muniyar chawl. At around 6.30 pm, the bodies were sent for postmortem to Borivli's Bhagwati Hospital.
SR Gaikwad, the Assistant Municipal Commissioner, R south ward, told sunday mid-day, "The bike came at full force, rammed into the barricades and toppled. There was a drain leakage issue in the area, but we had ceased work due to the monsoon. We had taken all precautions from our end."
Ajay Shinde, a resident of Priyadarshini building, which is opposite the accident spot, said, "The residents have always feared that some untoward incident might happen as there is no speed breaker here and a high-speed vehicle could be dangerous. We had written to the BMC to look into the matter but they hardly ever address these issues and requests from citizens like us. Some accidents here were just waiting to happen."
