Mumbai: Four days after man commits suicide at Mantralaya, Maharashtra govt installs safety nets

Barely four days after a man committed suicide at Mumbai’s Mantralaya — the Maharashtra state secretariat — authorities swung into action, albeit not quite in the way that one may have anticipated. Nylon nets are now being installed at the building to prevent such incidents.

According to a report in Marathi newspaper Loksatta , nylon nets are being installed outside the lobby of the building. The work of setting up the nets began on Monday, the report said.

On 8 February, a 45-year-old man committed suicide by jumping off the fifth floor of Mantralaya. The man, Harshal Raote, was convicted of killing his sister, and was out on parole since 10 January. A day earlier, a 32-year-old unemployed man attempted suicide outside the building. Following these incidents, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis called for an overhaul of the building’s security system.

The decision to set up nylon nets at the building led to barbs from the Opposition. Dhananjay Munde, Opposition leader in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, slammed the Devendra Fadnavis-led government, asking if this was its development model.

- @Dev_Fadnavis सरकारचे विकासाचे मॉडेल?

मंत्रालय झाले सर्कसचा फड?
अरे कुठे नेऊन ठेवले प्रशासन? pic.twitter.com/ukjWGjq7Gs

— Dhananjay Munde (@dhananjay_munde) February 12, 2018

- @CMOMaharashtra महोदय, हे मंत्रालय आहे की सर्कसचा फड?

Is this Mantralaya or Circus premises?

To prevent suicide government placed net inside Mantralaya premises. Good initiative but government should take preventive measures to eradicate root cause of suicide attempts. pic.twitter.com/tdssxqeS0Y

— Dhananjay Munde (@dhananjay_munde) February 12, 2018

In January, 84-year-old Dharma Patil consumed a poisonous chemical at Mantralaya to protest low returns offered by state government while acquiring his land for a solar power plant. On 23 March, 2016, Madhav Kadam , a farmer from Nanded district, attempted suicide by consuming an insecticide at Mantralaya.

With inputs from PTI