30 July,2016 08:50 AM IST | | Aparna Shukla
Parag Pawaskar wanted to celebrate his birthday by dropping his 13-year-daughter at her school in Malad. But after leaving her at the school, a tree fell on his car, crushing him to death
The mangled remains of the Vento
He wanted to celebrate his birthday in a special way and so, Parag Pawaskar did something out of the ordinary yesterday: he dropped his 13-year-daughter at her school in Malad. But after leaving her at the school, a tree fell on his car, crushing him to death.
The mangled remains of the Vento
At 7 am, after his daughter Aditi went inside the school, the 47-year-old accountant was reversing his car when the tree, owing to loose roots, fell on the car. According to an eyewitness, the car was so badly damaged that taking out Parag's body from it proved to be a long struggle.
"The man in the Vento (Parag) died, but the people in the Honda Amaze managed to escape," said Parth Ved, a student from the Dalmiya College - situated in the same lane as the school - referring to the other car that was parked next to the Volkswagen model, which was also damaged. A wall of a nearby housing society, too, was damaged.
A 28-year-old rickshaw driver, Nagendra Yadav, nearby had a providential escape.
"We tried opening the back door of the [Vento] car, but it was impossible to take him out," said Krishna Shukla, another eyewitness, adding that a doctor at the spot checked Parag and declared him dead. "Parag did not receive any kind of injury on his body but lost his life probably because of suffocation," said Dipesh Thakkar, his cousin, adding that the body was cremated after the autopsy report suggested accidental death.
Waterlogging near the roots made the soil loose and due to heavy rain, the tree fell. The smaller trees were trimmed last month and the bigger ones were due to be cut on Saturday.
BMC says
However, Sachin Parkhe, tree officer of P/South ward (Malad), said, "There was no day fixed for the tree cutting/trimming. This particular tree was healthy."
"During rain, trees become heavier and tend to fall. We are trying to level the trees by cutting the branches. For monsoon, specifically, the department has hired agencies that put 'iron angles' to keep trees from falling," said a BMC officer on the condition of anonymity.
