Tuesday, 10 January, felt like any other day to Lohit Kumar Sulakhe, except that it was not. At 10.45 am, as he was riding his bike – with his wife and twin children pillion riding – past Metro Rail worksite on Outer Ring Road near Nagawara, Bengaluru, he first heard a heavy rustle.
"I heard a swoosh and a rustle. I immediately realised there was something wrong. I sped but the pillar had already hit my wife. All this seemed to have happened in a fraction of a second," Sulakhe told The Quint. Sounding exhausted, he continued, "I thought I had saved them. It was that close"
Sulakhe lost his 28-year-old wife Tejaswini and two-year-old son Vihan when a Namma Metro pillar collapsed, crushing them on Tuesday. Lohit Sulakhe and his two-year-old daughter survived the accident.
'I Felt My Wife and Son Slipping Off the Bike'
On Wednesday, 11 January, Bengaluru Police booked eight parties including Nagarjuna Construction Company Ltd (NCC), that was given the contract for completing three segments of Bengaluru Metro's second phase work. Others accused of criminal negligence are four NCC engineers – Prabhakar, Mathai, Vikas Singh, and Lashmipathi – and director, Chaitanya. Two Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) engineers, Venkatesh Shetty and Mahesh Bendekari were also booked.
Lohit Sulakhe, a civil engineer, and Tejaswini, a software engineer at a Manyata Tech Park company, were on their way to drop their children off at a daycare centre when the crash happened.
"We enrolled our children at the daycare because it was becoming difficult for my parents to take care of them. As we were both employed and mostly away for work, we felt our children would benefit from daycare," Sulakhe said. The daycare enrolment completed just a week ago, he remembered.
The couple left from their home near Horamavu-Kalkere Main Road and were on their way to Vijaya Nagar, where the daycare was located. "We were there precisely at that time because we had to drop off the children at the daycare," Sulakhe said.
Had they left a minute earlier or later from home, they could have escaped the tragedy, he rued. But Sulakhe did manage, with immense effort, to balance the bike and save himself and his daughter even after the crash.
"I escaped the crash and my daughter who was in the back was clinging to me. She did not fall. But the pillar hit my wife and my son whom she was holding. They felt the impact and fell off," he said. The pillar hit the vehicle almost in the middle, wiping out half his family. According to BMRCL, one of the guy wires holding the pillar up had snapped and caused the accident.
Tejaswini was found unconscious and baby boy Vihan's breath was shallow, when bystanders came for rescue.
"People rushed to help us and I, with the help of others, carried my wife and child to the hospital on the other side of the road."Lohit Kumar Sulakhe
Both Tejaswini and Vihan could not be saved as they has suffered massive internal injuries caused by the weight of the iron bars. "I escaped without a scratch and my daughter too is fine. We still cannot believe that this happened to us," Sulakhe said.
'Probe Lacks Empathy, Negligence Is Evident': Family
Sulakhe, however, seemed relieved that the accident did not cause more damage. Had his family escaped narrowly, others would have come under the pillar, he said, uncomfortable about any of the outcomes that were possible at the time.
The father of two said he wouldn't wish their fate on others. "I was unlucky. Had we escaped, others would have come under it. They were lucky to have escaped," he said.
According to Sulakhe, traffic should have been restricted on the road where Metro work was in progress.
"They (BMRCL) should have cordoned off the dangerous areas where construction was going on. They should not have allowed traffic on the road," he said. Tejaswini's parents – Madan G Gujjar and Rukmini Bai Gujjar – have not yet come to terms with her death, he said.
"The government and BMRCL have announced ex-gratia but I felt that the probe lacked empathy or even understanding. What happened was a serious accident which claimed two lives. They cannot be matter of fact or 'normal' about it," Sulakhe said. While Karnataka government announced Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia for the victims' family, BMRCL announced Rs 20 lakh compensation.
"We were not told how they plan to proceed with the probe," the distraught husband said. Meanwhile, Tejaswini's family has rejected ex-gratia, he claimed. When The Quint contacted Madan Gujjar for his comment he said, "No matter how much they pay us, they can never bring my daughter and grandchild back. I cannot think of anything else."
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