George MendoncaNavi Mumbai: Subhash Balkhande (42), the father of college student Shubhangi (16), who along with her college friend Ujwala Wagh (18) suffered severe shocks from an underground exposed live electrical wire while wading through a waterlogged stretch near Nerul flyover on Wednesday, has said that he will lodge a complaint at Nerul police station against the NMMC contractor who had laid the underground cable and did not ensure its maintenance. The contractor’s act of negligence thatcould have been fatal for his daughter and her friend, he said.Balkhande, who drives his taxi, said, “As I was busy attending to my daughter Shubhangi in the ICU at Fortis hospital in Vashi, Iwas unable to lodge a police complaint earlier. Also, my livelihood is from driving my cab, so I have to step out daily for work. My daughter is now stable and is likely to be shifted to the general ward in the next two or three days. After that, I will pursue the matter and seek legal action by lodging a police complaint against the NMMC contractor and demand registration of an FIR.”He added that though NMMC commissioner Kailas Shinde has suspended the executive engineer (electrical) Pravin Gade for dereliction of duty, “the actual culprit is the contractor, who neglected the maintenance of the underground electrical cable, resulting in the breaking of the cable and exposure of live electric wire, causing the mishap.”On Friday, NMMC corporator Kishor Parkar of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, who is also Sena Navi Mumbai district president and Sena activist Aniket Mhatre on behalf of Dy CM Shinde extended financial help of Rs 2 lakh each to the kin of both the teens. The autorickshaw driver Pravin Mahale who rushed the girls to DY Patil hospital, Nerul, was felicitated and given Rsone lakh as a token of appreciation for his prompt action.
