Mumbai: Enthusiastic about participating in Har Ghar Tiranga, a campaign by the Centre that aims to invoke patriotism among citizens by hoisting the national flag, a 65-year-old man fell to his death while raising the tricolour on the roof after the tiles broke.
The incident took place in a remote village of Rajewadi in Jawhar Taluka, Palghar district at 7am on Saturday.
The deceased, Lakshman Shinde retired from Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) five years ago. Shinde was a respected and known man in his village. His wife and daughter were home when he fell from the roof.
Interestingly, the campaign reached the village, where citizens are still deprived of basic facilities, such as roads, connectivity and access to hospitals.
In this case, Shinde had to be shifted to three hospitals due to the lack of availability of medical assistance to treat him immediately.
He was first taken to the nearby Nandgaon PHC, then to Jawhar Hospital, where doctors recommended shifting him to Nashik Civil Hospital for better treatment. However, his life could not be saved.
Appasaheb Lengare, police inspector of Jawhar police station, said that they would be filing an accidental death report once the last rites are completed.
Villagers believe, more than such campaigns, they need roads, ambulances and hospitals in Jawhar and Mokhada Taluka.
After 75 years of independence, they still have to use a hand-made doli (carriage) made of bamboo and bedsheet to cross rivers and jungle in order to reach the nearest road and to visit a hospital.
Last month, a senior citizen, who had a leg injury, had to be taken in a doli and the people carrying her had to cross a swelled river by walking a couple of kilometres in the jungle.