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This Article is From Feb 24, 2012

Nine months after fall from flyover, no aid for paralysed worker

Nine months after fall from flyover, no aid for paralysed worker
Ram Mishra with Sushil Mishra
Mumbai: For the past nine months, 22-year-old labourer Sushil Mishra, who fell from an under-construction flyover last May, has not moved from his hospital bed. He was permanently disabled after falling 30 feet from an under-construction flyover being built by the MMRDA in Wadala. He cannot even extend his arms to reach out to the medicines lying on the bedside.

Yet, since the debilitating fall, neither the MMRDA nor the contractor has offered to take care of his medical expenses, his kin claim. According to Ram Naresh Mishra, 39, a distant relative of Mr Sushil's, the incident took place on the evening of May 15, 2011 at Reay Road. Three workers fell down 30 feet from a flyover under construction; they were taken to KEM hospital. While two of them, Pravin Kumar and Chandrakishor Sahani, suffered minor injuries and were discharged the same day, Mr Sushil's condition was serious and he was admitted at the facility.

"On May 27, 2011, KEM doctors told us that Sushil would have to undergo an operation and expenses would be Rs 27,000. Sushil could not get together the money. He doesn't even have any kin or friends who could have helped him. He was shifted to Somaiya hospital, and has since been there. Doctors said his back is permanently paralysed and he would never be able to walk, or even sit up, the rest of his life," said Mr Ram, a resident of Vashi and an auto driver by profession.

He further said that he is doing what he can to collect the amount for Mr Sushil's treatment. He claimed that he met several authorities including Mr Sushil's employer Rajendra Singh, an administrative head of Simplex Infrastructure Limited Company, responsible for constructing of the flyover.

"I have run myself ragged going to the Simplex office. But everyone I talk to there says there is no point talking to them, that I should talk to the contractor, Mohammed Salim. But Salim tells me he is not the contractor," said Mr Ram. "I have approached a lawyer to file a writ petition against Simplex," he said.

Mr Ram also said that Sushil had been appointed as a helper at the construction site, but his boss forcibly made him do rigourous labour. A resident of Sitamadhi district in Bihar, he was getting paid Rs 300 for 12 hours of drudgery. At this juncture, he has no means of financial or emotional support, Mr Ram said.

The other side
When MiD DAY contacted Rajendra Singh, administration head of Simplex, he said, "It is true that we have not been taking care of Sushil's needs, but it is not true that we are not giving him financial support. In fact, we have spent more than Rs 3 lakh on him till now. We will give him full compensation. We are also trying to get a disability certificate for him. From today, we are going to appoint full-time helpers for tending to him."

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