Ponda: The phone keepsringing. Minutes later the voice of a lady comes on line and enquires as to theidentity of the caller. The Goan asks for Devdatta, PWD contractorVishwas Harmalkar’s son. The silence continues as she hangs up. Harmakar’ssuicide has destroyed a family forever. Their faith in the system dead.
It has been two months sinceVishwas Harmalkar committed suicide in a Mayem Lake View GTDC hotel room. Thepolice did not have much to do, but register a case of death by suicide underSection 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The police never had a case sosimple where three suicide notes pointed to the abetment of death by PWDofficials. The case however was closed as a suicide. No investigation or even afollow up.
Harmalkar’s son Devdatt andhis brother Bharat’s faith in the system has been shattered. Despite deposingbefore Additional Collector Amarsen Rane’s Inquiry Committee and stating thatit was a constant demand for kickbacks and humiliation by the three PWDengineers that forced him to commit suicide, no action was taken against thecontractors.
“My father was hounded for moneyconstantly and if he reminded them of the unpaid bills, they would humiliatehim” said Devdatt in his disposition to Addl. Collector Amarsen Rane.The son and brother have since gone incommunicado following threats andpressure from PWD officials and politicians. The fact that the PWD MinisterRamkrishna (Sudin) Dhavlikar lives a few kilometres down the road, is of nohelp.
The Goan did try talking to Harmalkar’s family but theyrefused to be quoted. Their defense “ they don’t want to be drawn into anycontroversy. Fear was writ large on their faces. Why does a family thathighlights the dark side of the PWD in their disposition to the MagisterialEnquiry refuse to make a public statement about it?
The PWD has certainly pulledthe rug from under the feet of what was once a very happy family.
