Mumbai: BMC’s internal inquiry into the tree crash that killed 11-year-old Vihaan Srivastava in Chembur on June 30 has come under attack from both the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance and Congress, with corporators demanding a fresh, independent probe into the incident.Ten days after Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde and BJP group leader Ganesh Khankar rejected the civic administration’s inquiry report, the issue is once again being raised.Corporators cutting across party lines said the report had virtually given a clean chit to civic officials while merely imposing a penalty on the contractor, a response they said was wholly inadequate considering that a child had lost his life. Shiv Sena party leader Amey Ghole said he will be demanding that an IAS-level inquiry be instituted into the incident.He said that the administration should treat the matter with greater sensitivity instead of ignoring requests made by members of the ruling alliance.Congress also backed the demand for a fresh probe, stating that it was unfortunate that the civic administration was not heeding the concerns raised by the ruling party itself. Congress party leader in the BMC Ashraf Azmi said, “It is surprising that 10 days have passed since the demand was made by the Mayor and yet the administration is silent on it.”However, BJP party leader in BMC Ganesh Khankar said, “I have already spoken to the administration regarding the matter and a third-party inquiry is going to set up into it. The civic administration will officially announce it very soon.”On June 30, Srivastav died after a tree crashed on the school bus he was travelling in. An inquiry was initiated into the incident and the contractor, who undertook road works on the stretch, was fined Rs 5 lakh and the consultant Rs 2 lakh.
