Two people, including an eight-year-old girl, died and four others were injured after an electric shock near a Ganeshotsav pandal in Mumbai’s Kalachowki in the early hours of Sunday, September 20.
The incident occurred at around 2.20 am near the entrance of the Mahaganpati Utsav Mandal on Dattaram Lad Marg, where a temporary drinking-water and cold-drink stall had been installed as large crowds gathered for the festival.
According to civic officials, electric current was detected at the temporary stall, apparently following a short circuit. The Mumbai Fire Brigade received the emergency call at 2.42 am, switched off the power supply and cordoned off the area. Six people were taken to hospitals.
Eight-year-old Raghini Ghanshyam Yadav was declared brought dead at Masina Hospital, while a woman identified as Sujata was declared brought dead at Global Hospital.
Three other injured people Kiran Akbar Naik, Tanvi Naresh Hande and Sahil Sandip Tare, all 19 were reported stable, while 12-year-old Ruhi Singh remained in critical condition in the ICU.
BEST officials later inspected the site and found that a temporary electricity meter had been installed for festival illumination and the cold-drink stall; its wiring and miniature circuit breaker had already been disconnected by a local electrician. Kalachowki Police are investigating the cause of the short circuit.
How The Shock Spread
The tragedy unfolded in a densely crowded part of central Mumbai as devotees gathered through the night for Ganeshotsav. According to civic officials, the suspected short circuit occurred near a temporary drinking-water and cold-drink stall outside the Mahaganpati Utsav Mandal in Digvijay Mill Chawl.
Electric current was detected at the stall, prompting the Mumbai Fire Brigade, police, BEST personnel and civic ward officials to reach the site. Firefighters immediately disconnected the electricity supply and the area was cordoned off to prevent further injuries.
Six people affected by the shock were taken to Masina Hospital in Byculla and Global Hospital in Parel. At Masina, Raghini Ghanshyam Yadav, 8, was declared brought dead, while Kiran Akbar Naik, Tanvi Naresh Hande and Sahil Sandip Tare were admitted in stable condition.
At Global Hospital, Sujata was declared dead and Ruhi Singh, 12, was admitted to the ICU in critical condition, officials said. The exact age of Sujata has been reported inconsistently in early reports, with civic and media accounts identifying her as 33; this detail should therefore be treated with caution until officially confirmed.
The family of Raghini has also raised questions about the safety arrangements at the venue. Her aunt, Kismati Yadav, told PTI that the family had reached the area around 2 am but decided against proceeding into the crowded queue and waited near shops outside the mandap.
She alleged that a light fixture installed near the queue fell towards people and that her children received electric shocks. “There were lights installed there, near the mandap.
They should have taken care of safety,” she said, while alleging that the organisers had failed to ensure adequate safety measures. Her account is an allegation and has not been independently established as the cause of the accident.
BEST Inspects Temporary Setup
Following the incident, the focus shifted to the temporary electrical infrastructure installed around the festival venue. According to information provided by BEST and the BMC, officials inspected the electrical installation at Digvijay Mill Chawl near pole number DLM-14 on Dattaram Lad Marg.
They found a temporary electricity meter, numbered M217392, which had been installed to provide power for Ganesh festival illumination and a cold-drink stall. Officials said the wiring and miniature circuit breaker connected to the temporary meter had already been disconnected by a local electrician by the time of the inspection.
The electricity supply at the location remained switched off, while a BEST fuseman and meter inspector assisted in examining the installation. Police have begun a detailed investigation to determine how the current reached the temporary stall and whether the electrical installation played a role in the deaths and injuries.
At present, the available official information does not establish negligence by any particular individual or organisation, nor does it conclusively establish the precise technical cause of the electrical leakage.
The incident comes as Mumbai sees heavy footfall at major Ganesh mandals, making electrical safety, crowd management and emergency access particularly important around temporary stalls, lighting and other festival infrastructure. The tragedy has also drawn attention to the vulnerability of temporary installations in crowded public spaces, where even a localised electrical fault can potentially affect multiple people.
The Logical Indian’s Perspective
A festival is meant to bring communities together in faith, celebration and shared public life not expose families to preventable danger. The deaths of an eight-year-old child and a woman, alongside the critical condition of a 12-year-old girl, make this incident a painful reminder that public safety cannot be treated as secondary during large gatherings.
At the same time, accountability must be based on evidence: the police investigation and electrical inspection should establish exactly what failed, whether safety protocols were followed and who was responsible for maintaining the temporary installation.
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