Pavement dweller dies while cleaning well

A 32-year-old pavement dweller died in Subhash Nagar while cleaning a well dug up by a car wash owner in Jogeshwari East on Tuesday afternoon

MUMBAI: A 32-year-old pavement dweller died in Subhash Nagar while cleaning a well dug up by a car wash owner in Jogeshwari East on Tuesday afternoon.

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The car owner, named Ajay Umbrekar, opened an illegal car wash on Railway Land. On Tuesday, Umbrekar hired Shankar Kurade, who lives next to the car wash, to clean the well used to extract water for the car wash.

Umbrekar had allegedly hired Kurade for ₹2000 to clean the well without providing any safety gear or a mask. According to Sharda Arondekar, a social worker, Kurade died shortly after entering the well, which is more than 10 feet deep.

Arondekar stated they got a call from Jogeshwari Trauma Hospital, where Umbrekar had taken Kurade after the incident. “The police sent Kurade’s body for post-mortem but haven’t filed an accidental death case yet. Arondekar urged the police to add manual scavenging charges against Umbrekar.”

An accidental death report (ADR) is being registered and an investigation is being conducted to ascertain the cause of death.