Navi Mumbai, Jun 25: Eleven members of a Malad-based family were killed in an accident on the Mumbai-Goa highway in Khed, Ratnagiri district, late on Sunday night.
At around 11.15pm on Sunday, a sand-filled dumper going towards Chiplun, collided head-on with a Qualis carrying 13 persons who were returning to Mumbai. The high-speed collision killed 11 of the Chavan family, including three children, on the spot. The two seriously injured survivors were admitted to a hospital in Khed taluka.
Police officials at Khed said Malad residents Anant (65) and Amita Chavan (60) had gone to Sangameshwar with their sons, daughter, sons-in-law and grandchildren, in connection with a marriage proposal for their son Rakesh (28). The accident wiped out the entire family including Rakesh, his brother Harish (36), Harish's wife Nita (26), their infant son Harsh (8 months), sister Sujata Mane (35), her husband Kashinath (40), their children Anushka (8) and Avishkar (5) and the Qualis driver Prashant Manjre (35). The only two survivors, Abhishek Bhuvad (18), a family friend, and Ramesh Holkar (35), married to Rakesh's sister Shubhangi, were seriously injured and admitted to hospital. Shubhangi didn't accompany the rest of her family on the trip and had stayed back in Mumbai. The accident spot is approximately 260km from Mumbai and 100km from Sangameshwar.
Dumper driver Motilal Balu Chavan, who was reportedly going from Mahad to Chiplun with a full load of freshly dredged sand, was also injured and has been made an accused in the incident.
Shocked relatives left for the Chavans' native place at Dapoli, Ratnagiri on Monday, for their last rites. Rakesh, for whom the family was enthusiastically bride-hunting, worked in an automobile showroom. Friends said he accompanied them to an orphanage last week to donate clothes. Harish worked in a bank, his father Anant was employed as a security guard, while Kashinath was a chauffeur. The Chavans had lived in a ground-plus-one rented structure at Gudiya Pada, Malad Link Road, as their house was being redeveloped. Sujata, her husband and kids lived on the top floor of the building. "Manjre knew the Chavans for a long time and arranged the Qualis for them. His wife is pregnant and we haven't broken the news of his death to her," said a neighbour. He has a three-year-old child and also lived with his family at Gudiya Pada.
"The Chavans were friendly and sociable. It was very important for them to live together under one roof," said Rani, a neighbour, adding, "Children from the family would frequent our house to play. It's
shocking to hear that they are no more." Dhondu Mane, a cousin of Rakesh, said the latter was very excited about a bike he bought recently. "He would keep the bike at home, fearing pranksters in the area would damage its seat," he said.
Inspector M N Pardeshi told TOI that the dumper's driver was in the wrong lane. He was probably trying to overtake another vehicle on the highway but misjudged the speed at which the Qualis was coming from the opposite direction, causing the deadly collision. Police said they are still probing if the dumper driver had the necessary permit to load sand and transport it to Chiplun. A local source said illegal sand dredging was rampant at night in Chiplun, Khed and Dapoli areas.
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