Pathre, a technician at CR's Matunga workshop, had parked his Tata Indica on the road near Dalvi Chawl, which caved in after the pipeline ruptured around 11pm.
Nilesh Pathre (28) had saved Rs60,000 from his salary for the past two years before buying a car in August 2015, which was squashed on Wednesday night all because of the sheer power and weight of water jetting from a 72-inch broken pipeline.
Pathre, a technician at CR's Matunga workshop, had parked his Tata Indica on the road near Dalvi Chawl, which caved in after the pipeline ruptured around 11pm.
"I was watching TV when I heard huge commotion outside my house — people screaming, running helter-skelter and shouting 'water... water is coming'," Pathre said. He immediately stepped out and saw a huge spurt of water shooting up from underneath the road, almost at an arm's length from his car. Within moments, water crashed on the roof of his car, breaking all windows and doors.
Pathre wanted to brave the water and save his car, but after the witnessing the force of the jet, which was sweeping away bikes and lamp posts, he retreated. "I just stood and watched my car getting smashed," he rued.
By morning as water receded, the once glossy red car wore the look of a scrap model, with just the seats and steering wheel in place. Huge branches from the nearby Banyan tree had also crashed on the CNG kit of his car, crushing it beyond repair.
"The car will now require another Rs60,000-plus to get it back in shape. I had saved money since 2013 to buy it. I have no clue from where I will get the money for repairs now," Pathre said.
Calling it bad karma, he added that just two days back his insurance expired and he was to renew it. "I was neck-deep in work and had thought to renew it on my weekly off on Sunday. I now regret the decision," he lamented.
Around nine motorbikes were also damaged in the burst. "I was planning to give it out on rent asto add to my income, but alas."
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 "Nilesh Pathre")
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