Nagpur kin bid adieu to Delhi family that was wiped out
NAGPUR: The bodies of the Andraskar couple and their two children, who were killed in Sunday’s gondola tragedy, were brought to Nagpur from Mumbai by air and cremated on Monday night.
Jayant Andraskar, his wife Manisha and their daughters Anagha and Janhvi, were killed after a tree fell on a cable and sent one of the cars crashing below.
The Andraskars, residents of Shalimar Bagh in northwest Delhi, were in Jammu and Kashmir on a family holiday. One of their daughters was a Class 2 student, while the other was in playschool. The family moved to Delhi from Nagpur owing to Jayant’s government job. They went to Kashmir on June 22 for a weeklong holiday, said Jayant’s younger brother Satish.
A pall of gloom descended at Old Subhedar Layout in south Nagpur after the bodies reached the Andraskar residence. “My brother had told us about the trip and seemed enthusiastic. Who would have thought this would happen?” asked a sobbing Satish.
Jayant’s parents Namdeorao and Bimal broke down on seeing the bodies of their children and were unable to speak.
Jayant, a former divisional engineer with the local Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT), had taught at a private engineering college before shifting to Delhi. Manisha was an architectturned-homemaker.
J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, who was monitoring the rescue operations herself, announced an ex gratia of ₹5 lakh in favour of next kin of the killed while ₹2 lakh was announced by Gulmarg Gandola, the company that operates the cable car. Mehbooba has also ordered a highlevel inquiry to find out the causes or lapses, if any, that led to the mishap.