65-year-old dies after fall during chaotic TMC anti-hawker drive

A 65-year-old man, on Saturday afternoon, suffered a fall during a Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) operation targeting illegal hawkers along the road at Lokmanya Nagar Pada no 3. He was pronounced dead on Sunday afternoon due to severe bleeding from a head injury

Thane: A 65-year-old man, on Saturday afternoon, suffered a fall during a Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) operation targeting illegal hawkers along the road at Lokmanya Nagar Pada no 3. He was pronounced dead on Sunday afternoon due to severe bleeding from a head injury. Residents and family members criticised the haphazard manner in which the operation was conducted, noting that both ends of the road were blocked, and hawkers were scrambling to evade officials.

Thane, India - March ,04, 2024: Photograph of died A 65 year old man died after he fell off during the chaos of TMC illegal encroachment action in Lokmanya Nagar, Thane. ,in Thane, in Mumbai, India, on, Monday, March,04, 2024. ( Praful Gangurde / HT Photo )

The deceased, Manohar Mahadik, was a rickshaw driver, for the last few years, he stopped working and was living with his wife in the Lokmanya Nagar Pada no 3. His wife does stitch jobs for survival. It was his daily routine that he would come out in the morning after 10 to buy vegetables.

According to the family, on Saturday when he was buying vegetables in the market, a vehicle of TMC for encroachment action came into Pada no 3. The employees of TMC started putting materials of the hawkers in the vehicle while the hawkers were trying to save their products. The chaos was created in which Mahadik got pushed by someone and he fell off.

His brother, Satish Mahadik, said, “After he fell off, he started feeling unconscious, some passerby and residents made him sit at the corner of one of the shops and later took him to the Shivaji Hospital in Kalwa. As there was no neurosurgeon in the hospital and his head injury was serious, we had to shift him to the JJ hospital, where he was declared dead during the treatment on Sunday. There should be some responsibility as a human being should be followed during these activities. Because no one from the TMC team came forward to help him get into the hospital. Residents there were struggling to get a vehicle to take him to the hospital in all that chaos.”

Residents of the area expressed concerns over the haphazard manner in which the operation was conducted, highlighting the narrowness of the road and the resultant congestion. Rani Bhosale, a resident emphasised the need for responsible action by TMC officials, urging them to provide assistance in emergencies arising from such operations.

In response, the additional commissioner of TMC, Sandip Malvi said, “We will check the details of the incident and do the needful after the inquiry.”