BMC’s probe blames contractor for death of 2 children in Wadala park

Preliminary investigations by BMC hold contractor responsible for children's deaths in water tank incident at Maharishi Karve garden, Wadala West.

Mumbai: Over a week after four-year-old Arjun Wagari and five-year-old Ankush Wagari died when they fell into an underground water tank in Maharishi Karve garden, Wadala West, a preliminary investigation by in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has held the contractor responsible for the deaths. The findings of the probe align with the Matunga police’s investigation, which arrested park supervisor Patiram Vikram Yadav last Thursday. Vikram had been appointed by the contractor Hiravati Enterprises for the park’s maintenance.

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The BMC’s preliminary investigation revealed that on the day of the incident, the heavy lid of the water tank was missing, and it was covered with a flimsy plastic sheet, most likely because migrants living near the Wadala bridge had removed the lid to fetch water. “They enter the park to fetch water by bending the wire fence, escaping the eyes of the watchman who sits in the front of the park,” said an official.

Rules mandate that the contractor tasked with maintenance of gardens must ensure that water tanks always have a lid, and the BMC had instructed the contractor to ensure the tank in Maharshi Karve garden was covered in 2023, the official noted. “The contractor usually replaced the lid when it went missing. But there was no lid this time, making the contractor responsible,” he said, adding that the BMC had informed the police about migrants removing the lid to fetch water.

Investigation by Matunga police too held the contractor responsible for the children’s death. “The tank into which the children fell was covered with just plastic sheets. So we arrested the park supervisor under the Section 304A (culpable homicide) of the IPC,” said Deepak Chavan, senior police inspector.

Following the death of the two children, HT reported that the Wadala Citizens Forum, a citizens group, had complained about the condition of the park to the BMC several times. “We had complained to the BMC about the poor condition of the park as well as the lack of lights and urged them to raise the low wall on the nether side to prevent people from entering the premises covertly,” said Anil Jain, secretary of the forum.