MUMBAI: Following the political outcry over the BMC inquiry report into the death of 11-year-old Vihaan Srivastava in a tree crash last month, which absolved its garden and roads department officials of any wrongdoing, the civic body has decided to set up a third-party inquiry into the incident.On June 30, Vihaan Srivastav died in Chembur after a tree crashed onto the school bus he was travelling in. The inquiry ordered by the municipal commissioner found no prima facie negligence by BMC’s roads or gardens departments. It found that the contractor allegedly failed to take adequate precautions during excavation and the consultant allegedly failed to ensure adequate supervision.
Incident claimed 11-year-old’s life
The fresh inquiry will be conducted by a single expert not attached to the BMC, to avoid any kind of difference of opinion with multiple experts being put on the panel.On July 16, during a BMC meeting, Mumbai mayor Ritu Tawde expressed dissatisfaction with the inquiry report, saying the findings did not go far enough in fixing accountability. Leader of the House Ganesh Khankar, too, slammed the report and tore it during the ongoing meeting to show his disappointment. When no fresh inquiry was announced, Ashraf Azmi, Congress leader in the BMC, said it was surprising that the administration wasn’t paying heed even to the demands made by the ruling party.The BMC officials said that there wasn’t any delay in setting up the fresh inquiry and that they were instead looking for a senior-level expert in the field.The boy’s father, Gaurav Srivastava, told TOI that they are keen that a fresh inquiry be conducted into the incident. “Despite the demand for a re-inquiry, we did not hear anything. We were hopeful that the administration would look into it as we were not satisfied with the earlier report,” he said.Mayor Tawde said that the BMC administration has already suspended three officers in this matter. “No suspension has been revoked, and we will not stay silent till the time an impartial inquiry is conducted into this matter,” she said.
