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A Village Burnt Overnight: Tears, Loss and Survival in Dhamangaon Blaze

  Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...

Teenage boy electrocuted while chasing a kite

Oil tanker train of Indian railway

The kite entangled into the over head equipment (OHE) of railway near Chunabhatti area

By Dheeraj Fartode
Yet another teenager risked his life for catching a kite. The lad climbed atop a stationary oil tanker at Chunabhatti on Sunday afternoon and was plucked by 11,000 volts current. He is identified as Lokesh alias Dadu Sahdeo Choudhary (15), a resident of Chunabhatti and a Standard X student of New English High School, Congress Nagar.

Sub-Inspector of Dhantoli police station Surendra Ahirkar told ‘The Hitavada’ that Lokesh along with friends were enjoying kite festival. Some youths were flying kites and one group was chasing the kites. One of kite flew towards railway line and Lokesh along with his friends  chased the kite. The kite entangled into the over head equipment (OHE) of railway near Chunabhatti area. An oil tanker train was waiting at the signal post when Lokesh climbed atop the goods train to remove the kite. He was unaware about the power voltage passing trough the OHE and the moment he sneaked up, the teenager was throw off by the powerful jolt.

He sustained serious injuries and was knocked unconscious. Tense over the incident, friends of Lokesh fled from the spot to their homes and informed others about the mishap. Large number of persons gathered at the spot and someone also informed to police control room. Staff of Ajni police station reached at the spot and rushed Lokesh to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH).

PSI Ahirkar said that the boy has sustained grievous burn injuries and battling for life. In previous incident that was reported from Panchpaoli area about a fortnight back when a teenager trying to catch a kite was run over by a train.

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