Mumbai: Relatives of Ramdhani Yadav, who was killed on Saturday when a portion of the parapet at a metro rail construction site in Mulund came crashing down, on Monday collected his body from Rajawadi Hospital after accepting a compensation of ₹39.5 lakh. The amount included ₹15 lakh from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) and ₹24.5 lakh from Milan Road Buildtech, the subcontractor for the site engaged by Reliance-Astaldi, the main contractor.
The family had earlier refused to collect Yadav’s body, demanding ₹2 crore and a job for one of his daughters as compensation. As reported by HT on February 16, the MMRDA on Sunday announced ₹20 lakh compensation – including ₹5 lakh ex-gratia from the state government and ₹15 lakh from the development authority, which the family rejected saying it was grossly inadequate to cover their needs.
After the overall amount was hiked to ₹39.5 lakh on Monday, excluding ex-gratia from the state government, Sashikant Yadav, a relative of the deceased, said, “The company agreed to compensate us as we threatened to file a case against them. The money will help his (Ramdhani Yadav’s) daughters and wife.”
Anjali Yadav, 22, the deceased’s eldest daughter, wondered why the MMRDA did not provide “fair compensation” to accident victims even though it imposed hefty fines on contractors who flout rules.
Referring to the amount paid to them as “tokenistic”, she said, “We urge chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to increase the compensation to ₹2 crore. If required, we are ready to meet him personally and explain why this amount is necessary.”
Ramdhani Yadav was the sarpanch of Bharthani village in Uttar Pradesh. He was killed when a portion of the parapet at a Metro 4 bridge construction site in Mulund crashed into an auto and a private car on Saturday. The sarpanch was travelling in the auto with two others – Rajkumar Yadav at the wheel, and fellow passenger Mahedra Yadav. Both are still under treatment in the ICU.
Later on Saturday, the police arrested five persons in connection with the incident, including representatives of Milan Road Buildtech and Hill International Inc, the general consultant for the project.
On Sunday morning, family members of the deceased and members of the Yadav community protested near the accident site, seeking adequate compensation. The crowd later moved to Mulund police station, followed by the offices of sitting MLA Mihir Kotecha and former MP Manoj Kotak, who held discussions with relatives of the deceased and community members.
While the discussions remained inconclusive on Sunday, they resumed on Monday at the Mulund police station, people who were part of the negotiations told HT, requesting not to be identified.
The talks ended with Milan Road Buildtech agreeing to pay ₹24.5 lakh, in addition to ₹15 lakh from the MMRDA. The family was subsequently handed over two cheques, while the ₹5 lakh ex gratia from the state government is awaited.
Around 3pm, they collected Yadav’s body from the Rajawadi Hospital. The body will be flown to Varanasi at 7am on Tuesday, family members said.