Two people died and four others were injured after coming into contact with an exposed electrical wire at a makeshift soft drinks stall near the Kalachowki Ganesh mandal in Parel, Mumbai, early on Sunday. The stall was allegedly drawing power through an unauthorised connection, while the narrow road was packed with devotees and partially waterlogged.
The deceased were identified as Sujata Thodeti, a 33-year-old vendor from Dharavi, and Raghini Yadav, an eight-year-old girl from Uttar Pradesh. Four others suffered electric shocks and were taken first to a nearby nursing home before being shifted to Gleneagles and Masina hospitals. They were reported to be stable.
The incident occurred on Dattaram Lad Marg, a narrow road near the Kalachowki mandal and within walking distance of the Lalbaug mandal. Fire brigade officials suspect that part of the stall’s frame may have been damaged when people jostled for space, possibly exposing a wire. Water had accumulated on a tarpaulin sheet near the stall, creating an additional risk around the electrical connection.
The crowd was so dense that ambulances could not enter the road. Members of the mandal carried injured people to a nursing home using their arms and wheelchairs, and later moved some patients to hospitals on two-wheelers, according to Rohan Rane, a mandal member. A local resident said crowds travelling towards and away from the mandal had become mixed, while barricades on the footpath had broken.
Tanvi Hande, one of the injured, told The Times of India that the incoming and outgoing lines had merged as people were leaving the area, creating what she described as a stampede-like situation. The other injured people were identified as Ruhi Singh, 8, from Santacruz; Sahil Tare, 19, from Bhiwandi; Kiran Naik, 19, from Karjat; and Hande, also 19, from Karjat.
BEST has issued a notice to the Kalachowki Vibhag Sarvajanik Ustav Mandal over the faulty electrical installation. The utility said it had sanctioned an electricity meter exclusively for the mandal, but its preliminary findings indicated that the stall had drawn an illegal connection from it. Mandal organisers denied knowledge of the unauthorised supply.
“When our officers reached the spot, it was revealed that the unauthorised line to the stall was drawn without our knowledge or approval,” said Trushna Vishwasrao, chairperson of the BEST committee. She said that if the mandal had informed BEST or sought permission for the stall connection, safety protocols and load checks would have been enforced.
A BEST official said that before a meter is installed for a Ganesh mandal, the utility checks the meter and obtains a test report from a licensed electrical contractor certifying that the installation is safe. Activist G R Vora called for BEST’s vigilance team to inspect mandals across Mumbai for unauthorised connections, citing the large number of devotees visiting festival sites.
The police have registered a first information report against stall owner Kamal Shetty under Sections 106(1) and 125(b), covering death caused by a rash or negligent act and a rash or negligent act that endangers life or personal safety and results in grievous hurt. Police are questioning the mandal organisers and investigating the electrical connection, the crowd conditions and the circumstances that led to the exposed wire.
