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Rains wreak havoc in Mumbai: Survivors, families narrate ordeal
‘Monsoon she was eagerly waiting for, made her an orphan’ “They are fine, don’t worry
‘Monsoon she was eagerly waiting for, made her an orphan’
“They are fine, don’t worry...” Vinod Gawde lied to his wife on the mobile phone while silently weeping on the stairs of Rajawadi Hospital, Ghatkopar. Till Sunday evening, he hadn’t broken the news to his wife that she had lost her parents and two sisters to the wall collapse in Chembur, on Saturday midnight.
Gawde’s in-laws—Pandit Godse, 50 and Chaya, 47 along with his two sister-in-laws—-Prachi Pandit Godse, 15, and Pallavi Dupargude, 32 were declared dead on arrival at the hospital. The body of his third sister-in-law Pratiksha Pandit, 18, was still missing till Sunday evening.
“I can’t tell her that the monsoon she was eagerly waiting for has made her an orphan,” said Gawde.
Gawde lives just 200 meters away from his in-laws in Chembur’s Bharat Nagar. On Saturday midnight, when the walls collapsed on their shanties, Gawde rushed to the spot within minutes but couldn’t find them due to the speed of the water flow.
“My wife also rushed to rescue them but we couldn’t find them. We couldn’t find anyone since it was also pitch dark. After hours of search, when we couldn’t find them, she started having anxiety attacks and fainted. So, I lied to her that her family members are fine and undergoing treatment at the hospital,” said Gawde.
Dupargude is survived by her husband and two children aged 10 and 12 years. Gawde is thankful to God that his nieces didn’t fall victim to the tragedy. “On Saturday, the children went to their tuition classes. While returning, they visited us when it started pouring outside. So, I informed Pallavi that the children will stay with us for the night. This helped to save the lives of the children,” he said.
When asked if they know that they have lost their mother, Gawde said, “No, I have lied to them also. They don’t know anything, and hoping to meet their mother soon.”
‘Don’t know who will take care of the child now’
The landslide turned the 13-year-old Diksha Gautam Pardhe, into an orphan overnight. Her parents — Gautam and Sheela along with her siblings—Shubham, 7, and elder sister Shruthi, 18 were declared dead on arrival at Rajawadi Hospital. After post-mortem, their bodies were handed over to the family on Sunday evening for last rites.
Pardhe was playing with Shubham in their room when a wall suddenly collapsed on their shanty. Before she could even realise anything, she was flowing away from her family by the gushing waters. While she was drowning, she was rescued by a local. In an unconscious state, she was rushed to Shiv Hospital, Chembur (East). When she opened her eyes, unaware of the fact that she has lost her whole family in the accident, her first question was, ‘Where is my brother?’.
“Within a day, she has become an orphan. We haven’t told her anything. She is too young to even understand what has happened. We don’t know who will take care of the child now,” said Adhikari Ahera, her aunty while sobbing at Rajawadi Hospital.
Her uncle Sunil Pardhe, who stayed just 300 meters away from Diksha’s chawl, has been taking care of the girl in the hospital. “She can sense something wrong has happened to her family. She keeps asking me about her parents and siblings. She is already in a shock, we don’t want to put more pressure on her by telling her the truth at present,” he said.
Ahera said the state government should at least sponsor her studies until she turns 21.
‘He will have to start his life from the scratch’
Akshay Suryakant Zimor, 26, was lying silently on his bed at Rajawadi Hospital with injuries in his back, while tears welled out his eyes. On Sunday night, he pulled out the bodies of his parents and younger sister from the debris at the Chembur wall collapse. He is an orphan now.
“I don’t know why I should live anymore. I have lost my whole family including my younger sister. Being a brother, it was my responsibility to save her but I was too late. It was too dark to see anything in the downpour,” lamented Zimor.
His friends who stayed nearby, rushed to help him when they heard about the wall collapse. But it was too late. Amidst the chaos, Zimor successfully rescued two people including the 13-year-old girl, Diksha Gautam Pardhe who also became an orphan after losing her family to the accident.
“By the time he could figure out his parents, it was too late. Then, he identified them and pulled them out of the mud and debris, including his only sister,” said Ganesh Mote, his friend.
Akshay has sustained injuries in his back and shoulder but is stable now. “He is not talking to any of us as he is still in shock. He has not only lost his family but also his house and documents. He will have to start his life from the scratches,” said Mote who also complained that due to the short circuit from the electric boards in the rain, the water caught the electrical current which obstructed the rescue operation.
