Mumbra building collapse: Cheques bring in little relief for victims

With every passing day more stories of loss and grief emerge from the catastrophe that struck Lucky Compound in Mumbra area of Thane last Thursday The relief money is woefully inadequate to heal their hearts Imran Sayyed 28 who lost his pregnant wife Sakina in the mishap has severely injured his left leg He plans to use the compensation amount of Rs 50000 partly for his treatment and the rest ldquoto secure his childrenrsquos futurerdquo Being the only breadwinner of the family he is worried that he may not be able to get back to work for the next six months Miracle Baby The 10monthold child who was found alive under the rubble after more than 24 hours is yet to be claimed by kin She is currently being taken care of by the staff at Chhatrapati Shivaji Hospital in Kalwa His children Falak 2 and Sadaf 1 luckily escaped without injuries Imran said ldquoFalak was with her grandmother when the building collapsed and Sadaf was in the building She was rescued after 24 hours from the debris The other 15 members of my family have all passed awayrdquo Imranrsquos mother Saiku Sayyed 50 managed to escape the collapse as she had stepped out to drop her granddaughter to her tuition class lsquoI couldnrsquot save herrsquo For a survivor who lost her daughter Sunita Yadav 30 is now left with only the postmortem reports as proof of her relationship with her child While her husband Bapu Yadav 35 and their son Ankit 4 survived the accident the couplersquos sevenyearold daughter Antima did not Sunita who could manage only to save her son said ldquoWe have received the compensation cheque but the thought of my daughter brings me unbearable grief When the building collapsed I managed to tuck my son under me but my daughter could not be saved in timerdquo Sunita and Ankit were rescued after almost 24 hours ldquoI formed a protective umbrella over my son and remained in that position until the rescue team pulled us out of the rubble on Friday nightrdquo she said Unclaimed lives A 10monthold baby girl who survived the collapse is still in the care of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital authorities as they havenrsquot received any verifiable or valid claims from her next of kin Dr Sadanand Waghchoure medical superintendent at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa said ldquoWe havenrsquot received any communication from any unknown relatives or from the police A few individuals claimed to know the child but none of their claims could be proven We canrsquot handover the child to anyone unless the relationship is adequately proved and authenticated by the policerdquo Dr Waghchoure added that the baby is fit to be discharged but will be in the hospitalrsquos care till the authorities receive further directions from the police At Thane Civil Hospital seven dead bodies are lying unclaimed even as authorities find themselves unable to verify the claims of those who say they are kin of the deceased Dr A B Nandpurkar medical superintendent Thane Civil Hospital said ldquoOne of the seven unclaimed bodies has been claimed to be that of one Kiran Thakur by some people who say they are her relatives So far there has been no solid proof of these claims We are waiting for the relatives of the other deceased to come and personally identify the bodiesrdquou00a0 Figures speak Thane Civil Hospital Total postmortems conducted 39 Total unclaimed bodies 7u00a02 males 3 females 2 children Total unidentified bodies 6 2 males 2 females 2 childrenu00a0