Thane: Why help came late

NDRF personnel took these pictures of the bad roads and the dead end they came to while on the way to the accident site

Poor road construction, potholes and connectivity, just 50 km from Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's residenceat, at Khutadi village in Thane district, caused significant inconvenience to the NDRF and TDRF (Thane Disaster Rescue Force) teams in reaching the accident spot on time.

NDRF officials said they relied on Google maps for navigation, which led them to take a wrong route, and they got stuck at a dead end in Shahapur taluka. An NDRF official told mid-day that the road connectivity near the under-construction Samruddhi Expressway was so poor, with hundreds of potholes, that they had to reverse their vehicles on the main road at midnight to find an alternative route.

This delay significantly impacted the rescue operation, and they could reach the location sometime between 4 am and 4.30 am. The TDRF teams also arrived at the scene at the same time, facing similar challenges due to the poor road connectivity and road conditions. According to NDRF officials, they were informed about the accident around 1 am, and two teams were immediately dispatched.

"Our officials used Google maps to reach the location quickly, but we got stuck at a dead end as the road shown on the map didn't exist. There was only one unpaved road, but heavy machinery couldn't be moved on it," said Deepak Tiwari, deputy commandant of NDRF.

The drivers of the NDRF bus carrying the personnel also shared their experience, saying it was pitch dark at midnight, and at the dead end, they had no option but to reverse to the main road for about 2.5 km. They then asked locals for an alternative route and eventually reached the location.

Once they reached the spot, they initiated the rescue operation, but it was challenging as the girder had fallen on the workers, and the girder launcher machine was heavy and thick. It took time to cut into it to remove the trapped people from the debris.

"The debris weighed over a thousand tonnes, and some bodies were severely affected, but with the help of available machinery, we carried out the rescue operation," said Sarang Kurve, assistant commandant of NDRF, who led the operation.