Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
It has been one and a half months since Rekha Haribhau Gaikwad passed away. The evening of June 11 was her last. She died when the dome at the entrance of Siddharth Garden collapsed. Rekha was a resident of Hudco N-11. As the municipal corporation continues to ignore her grieving family, her son has now started a hunger strike in front of the corporation office.
The deceased’s husband, Haribhau Gaikwad, is a retired deputy registrar from Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University (Bamu) and receives a pension. Both daughters are married and living with their in-laws. However, both sons — Amol and Pritam — are unemployed. Rekha used to sell vegetables from home and also ran a small sari business. Pritam had earlier worked on contract at the District Collector’s office, but he lost that job. Amol enrolled at a college in Sawangi after completing his 12th grade, but he currently has no work.
Amol said, "The municipal corporation has shown no concern after my mother's death. Someone from the office came once, but we received neither help nor assurance. It's been nearly a month and a half, but the authorities have not taken the incident seriously. That’s why I’ve started this hunger strike, and I won’t stop until justice is done."
Rekha’s husband Haribhau Gaikwad, daughters Archana and Kalpana Gaikwad, and sons Pritam and Amol Gaikwad are still struggling to recover from the trauma of this unfortunate incident.