Accustomed to working late evenings at the NTC headquarters at Ballard Estate, Bapat along with his colleague headed home earlier than usual on 11/7, after attending a meeting in Parel. Both died in the 6.25 pm train blast at Jogeshwari, 2 stops before Bapat was slated to alight.

His mobile phone was never traced, and Bapat’s family could trace his body at the city’s Cooper Hospital only the following morning after tortuous rounds of various hospitals.

Three weeks on, at his flat in Goregaon, wife and college lecturer Anjali (51) is still too shocked to speak. The couple of 35 years came to Mumbai in 1971 when Bapat joined government service as a civil engineer with the Public Works Department.

He moved to NTC in 1981 and that is where he found his calling. Says son Avinash, “The years running up to retirement were especially crucial since my father was very involved with the company’s revival proposal and how the land in Mumbai could help raise money for the company.”

NTC’s Managing Director in Delhi, Ramchandra Pillai, remembers Bapat’s “commitment and encyclopaedic knowledge. In the past year, as Mumbai’s mill land was subjected to PILs in the High Court and Supreme Court, Bapat, with his knowledge and background, became the pillar of our legal effort.”

A civil engineer by training, daughter and architect Anupama says, “my father enjoyed sharing his knowledge.” Bapat wrote frequently for engineering and construction journals, and provided consultancy services to housing societies in Mumbai’s suburbs guiding them on how to ascertain repairs, carry out structural audits, and put out formal tenders for the job, she says.

Bala Shetty of Andheri’s 38-year-old Bima Nagar, which used Bapat’s services in 2004, remembers him as very cordial, and a good listener and negotiator.

“He guided us through the bidding process, advised us on appointing contractors after a thorough assessment. He did systematic follow-ups of each of the 188 flats, and explained maintenance issues to all residents. He was 60, but still climbed four floors to the terrace to supervise work several times! Of the 6 of the 11 buildings that he worked on, there isn’t a single complaint till date.”

Easygoing, jovial, and a theatre enthusiast, Bapat was also on the board of two local education trusts, and delivered engineering lectures in his spare time at city architectural colleges.

At NTC, they haven’t yet hired his replacement. “I haven’t filled his post yet,” says Pillai, “and I don’t think we can, because he is irreplaceable.”