Senior citizen was startled by sound of falling branch, due to which he suffered a heart attack; nephew claims BMC contractor who was pruning trees did not manage the job properly
An 82-year-old man lost his life in Mulund on Monday in a freak incident when a tree branch fell just two feet away from him. After the shock of the incident, the senior citizen suffered a heart attack.
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The spot where the senior citizen was sitting when the branch fell next to him. Pic/Rajesh Gupta
The senior citizen has been identified as Damodar Mahadev Vaity, an ex-GKW employee, who used to go for morning walks to Chintaman Deshmukh Garden on a daily basis.
Damodar Mahadev
Around 10.30 am, he had just finished his walk and had taken a seat outside the garden, when a BMC contractor was at the spot to trim the trees, and a branch fell close to him. The senior citizen was startled by the sound of the branch falling, due to which he suffered a heart attack and died on the spot.
Speaking to mid-day, his son Bharat said, “My father was retired, but when it came to morning and evening walks, he wouldn’t compromise on the exercise. It was because of his daily walks that he was fit and alive for so many years.” Immediately after the incident, Vaity was taken to Veer Savarkar Hospital and his family was informed.
“My father had carried certain documents in his pocket due to which bystanders could reach us. I was at work; my wife and sister went to the hospital, but my father was declared dead by then,” said Bharat.
When asked whether he had anything to say against the BMC contractor’s work, he said, “ I am a humble man who works for a private firm. I do not want to fight against the BMC. I am saddened by my father’s death; he had survived till the age of 82 years.”
On the other hand, Vaity’s nephew Bablu said, “I went through the lane where the work was going on. I noticed that the BMC employees were not managing the exercise properly. I couldn’t see any BMC worker on
the road, so in some way or the other BMC is responsible.”
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The Navghar police have registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) and they have recorded the statements of all the eyewitnesses on the spot, which includes the BMC contractor Salim Shaikh as well.
Shaikh told mid-day, “The deceased was well aware that tree pruning was taking place. As people had gathered to watch the branches being cut, I hadn’t noticed the senior citizen. I noticed him after the bystanders went away.
However, not even a small piece of a branch fell on him. It was due to the impact of the branch falling near him that he suffered a heart attack.”
Senior Police Inspector Shreerang Motepatil from Navghar police station said, “We have received the post-mortem reports; Vaity died a natural death.”
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