Mumbai mayor suspects foul play in BMC staffer’s fall into flooded open drain, seeks inquiry

Mumbai: A day after a BMC staffer fell waist-deep into a rainwater-filled open drain a few feet away from mayor Ritu Tawde when she was inspecting the flooded King Circle’s Gandhi Market area, she termed the incident “fishy” and sought a detailed inquiry from the BMC administration.Baban Jadhav, a mukadam attached to BMC’s solid waste management department, however, denied that he had purposefully fallen into the drain.Speaking to TOI on Thursday, Tawde said: “A passerby walked safely along the edge of the barricaded open drain. Then how did a civic staffer, who knew the drain was open, end up falling into it? I find this all very fishy and have asked the BMC administration to investigate the matter and submit a report.

The administration has assured me that an inquiry will be conducted.”Tawde added that on Wednesday, she inspected various low-lying, chronic flooding spots, including Gandhi Market area, to monitor the situation after the season’s first heavy showers and give directions to the BMC administration.On Thursday, the local ward officer, along with other staff, visited the Gandhi Market site and conducted a preliminary inquiry. Civic officials said statements have been recorded from the staff present at the location, including Jadhav, and details regarding operational procedures are being examined. The probe will look into the circumstances leading to the fall into the drain, the safety measures in place at the spot, and whether established protocols were followed by personnel deployed there, officials said.In his defence, Jadhav said that he was only doing his job at the site and didn’t think it was right to initiate inquiry into the incident.