Mumbai: More than a month after the death of Prathamesh Parab, the 23-year-old Govinda who was injured during a dahi handi practise, his family has raked up a huge debt and is still awaiting the court-ordered compensation.
The Bhandup resident had injured his spine on August 17 while practicing forming a human pyramid a day before the Janmashtami festival. He was rushed to Sion Hospital and operated upon after 15 days. However, on September 10, Parab died due to cardiac arrest.
“He was doing well after the surgery. He was in the Intensive Care Unit. On the evening of September 10, I spoke to him before heading home. Suddenly his condition deteriorated and he died late in the night,” said his mother Tejashri Parab.
Even as his family is coming to terms with his sudden death, they are yet to receive the ₹10 lakh insurance cover promised by the state government in case of any mishap. The Bombay high court (HC) asked the state to ensure that each govinda receive an insurance cover of ₹10 lakh, following which the Eknath Shinde-led government, which permitted dahi handi celebrations after a gap of two years, announced the insurance cover stating that the government will pay the premium.
Members of Sai Sports Govinda Pathak (SSGP), for whom Parab was playing, have been trying to help the family get the compensation. Shailesh Jagade, member of SSGP, said they have submitted the documents in Mantralaya on October 3 and are waiting for a response from the government.
“The surgery was covered under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana scheme. But we were asked to pay for small things like saline and the bed cost which came to ₹100 a day. Overall we spent more than ₹50,000,” Tejashri said, adding that Parab spent 26 days in the hospital.
“No one from the state government has contacted us. The mandal is trying their best to help us,” she said.
Parab, who was afraid of heights, was part of the bottom tier of the human pyramid. “This would have been his ninth dahi handi. That evening he returned home from work and immediately left for the dahi handi practice. He was supposed to return in half an hour,” Tejashri said.
“He was a regular in our mandal. We only have three tier dahi handi. He was on the second tier and trembled before falling. It was a tragic incident. We have been running pillar to post to get him the compensation promised by the state government,” Jagade said.
The mandal had insured the govindas. “We submitted the documents. His family should get around ₹6 lakh from the insurance. Luckily we had a CCTV grab of the practice at pragati maidan in Bhandup that night. We have submitted the same in our documents,” Jagade added.
Two other Govindas died in the dahi handi celebrations this year: Sandesh Dalvi (24) who passed away in Nanavati Hospital on August 24 and Prathmesh Sawant (20) who died on October 8 in KEM Hospital.