Wooden planks crush woman to death at 'illegal' godown in Kandivli

The spot in the godown where Sonam was trapped

Twenty-four-year-old Sonam Yadav was working in this Kandivli-based godown for the past two years, but all hell broke loose after the premises got shifted to Ganesh Chowk area a month ago and the unit started functioning illegally there.

On Friday, a huge pile of wooden planks and laminated sunmica crashed on her, trapping her under the debris for four hours, which eventually led to her death. However, local activists and politicians said BMC was responsible for the incident, as they should have taken action against the illegal structure.

Her distraught parents at the scene of the mishap. Pics/Nimesh Dave

Residents of the area and bystanders said around 12.15 pm they heard a loud thud at the godown and saw people rushing out of the unit. Soon they came to know that a girl was trapped inside. Sonam's father Rajnath Yadav said, "The entire time we were at the spot, we prayed for her life. She was working in the godown for the past two years. This happened only after the unit got shifted." Initially, the fire brigade couldn't pull her out owing to space constraints, but later, with the help of a crane they cut the wooden sheets and brought her out. However, when she was taken to Shatabdi Hospital, the on-duty casualty medical officer declared her dead.

Meanwhile, Dinesh Salvi, MNS vibhagpramukh, said, "Not just the owner of the godown, even the BMC ward officer is equally responsible. When I complained about the illegal structure in October, the ward officer said it had been demolished. If they had really taken action, then we would not have lost a life." A police officer said, "An FIR against the unit's owner will be filed under section 304 (A) of IPC."

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