On the morning of August 19, 70-year-old Mumbai businessman Lalchand Rathod had breakfast as usual at his Parel home before heading out to his import-export office in Mazgaon. En route he instructed his driver to make a detour to the Bandra-Worli Sea Link and, in a clear violation of rules, alighted midway for a walk. Moments later, Rathod, who was battling depression, scaled the railings and leapt into the muddy waters of the Arabian Sea. The driver watched helplessly as his employer disappeared underwater and frantically called the fisher folk for help.

Post Rathod’s death, there have been two more suicide cases reported on the BWSL, all within a span of 10 days. On August 29, 33-year-old Chintan Shah stopped his car on the Sea Link and leapt to his death. Two days later, a BMC official Vikas Jhore jumped off the Worli end of the bridge after a heated argument with his wife, who couldn’t stop him.

Earlier this year, in March, 32-year-old Ravi Pillai took his life in the wee hours following an altercation with his wife over the phone. And in June, the 28-year-old son of a diamond merchant leapt to his death. The police and officials of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) appear perplexed by these incidents. “I’ve have no idea why people have suddenly chosen this particular stretch to end their lives,” says Arun Deodhar, chief of MSRDC.

After a delay of 10 years, the sea link opened in June 2009 to celebrations marked by much fanfare, fireworks, lights and music. The ₹750-crore bridge was meant to considerably reduce travel time between the island city and its western suburbs.

Design flaw?

The sea link’s four-foot-high crash barriers on the carriage side and railings on the end can be scaled effortlessly within seconds. “One possible solution could be raising the height of the railings, making it difficult for people to climb over so quickly,” says Qaiser Khalid, additional commissioner of Police (East). MSRDC officials however disagree, saying the idea had been proposed earlier, but the environment department and engineers were sceptical about it.

Khalid believes heightened security won’t help either. Currently, guards are stationed at both entry points to keep out pedestrians and control traffic. “If there is any criminal activity or accident they can easily attend to the situation,” explains Khalid. In fact, in 2012, a traffic constable thwarted a 23-year-old housewife’s suicide bid in broad daylight by diving into the water after her. Bike squads have also been deployed recently to keep an eye out for people who disembark on the sea link.

The events leading up to Rathod’s death eerily mirror those that transpired on the evening of August 1, 2012. Like Rathod, Lalith Seth, the owner of Raj Travels, asked his driver to halt the car midway on the sea link, saying he wanted to answer an urgent call. A couple of minutes later the driver realised Seth had vanished. His body was recovered on the shore near Worli Fort after a three-hour hunt. His suicide note found on the car’s backseat stated that he “could not fulfil family commitments”. The 56-year-old businessman was reportedly in debt and had defaulted on bank payments.

Extra eyes

Unnerved by the spate of suicides, the MSRDC has decided to install around 30 CCTV cameras on both sides of the 4km stretch. Currently, there are only six cameras, which don’t provide high-quality images either. Yet, officials believe that while these improvements might ease traffic management, they may not necessarily address the issue of suicides. “If someone suddenly stops the car in the middle of the sea link and jumps out, there is nothing we can do about it. We can install many CCTV cameras and increase security, but it will still be difficult to curb such cases,” Deodhar says.

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