A 17-year-old boy died after he was struck by lightning while trying to get mobile network on top of a tree in Osarvira-Mankarpada village at Dahanu late on Monday evening.
The victim, Ravin Bachu Korda, fell from the tree after he lost balance due to the shock after being struck by lightning, while his three other friends also received minor burns and fractures after falling down. Two boys are admitted in the government hospital at Kasa, while another boy is admitted to Vedant Hospital at Dhundalwadi.
“The injured have been identified as Mehul Anil Mankar, 14, Deepesh Sandip Korda, 14, and Chetan Mohan Korda, 13,” said Dahanu tehsildar Rahul Sarang.
“We are analysing the situation in regard to the issuance of compensation to the victim. But as per the recent GR (government resolution) we can award can natural disaster compensation only if the area received more than 65mm of rainfall. But on Monday, the area did not receive that much rainfall and hence, we are studying the situation for the compensation claim. My team is at the village in this regard and a report is awaited,” said Sarang.
Residents of the villages in the Wada-Dahanu belt climb on teakwood trees to catch signals on their mobile handsets as there is no mobile network in the these areas.
{{/usCountry}}Residents of the villages in the Wada-Dahanu belt climb on teakwood trees to catch signals on their mobile handsets as there is no mobile network in the these areas.
{{/usCountry}}“Even students climb trees to check their results. Villagers choose only teakwood tree because it is the tallest in the area and its branches are strong. The Centre has digitalised all transactions but we are still living in the early years when mobile network was new in our country. Due to weak network, we are compelled to climb the tall teakwood trees and talk. It’s a huge risk as there are chances of falling and suffering fractures or even dying, especially during the monsoons,” said Shashi Thakur, a resident of the area.
“Our grampanchayats have written letters to all service providers to improve network by building mobile towers, but there is no response from them,” said Vasant Bhoir, another resident.
“The mobile handsets are of no use as there is no or poor network but we have to recharge our phones to talk to our relatives, internet and hence we have to climb onto trees,” said Machindra Agiwale, a journalist with a leading Marathi newspaper.