After string of mishaps, MMRDA tightens Metro 9 safety

Similar measures will be implemented along Metro Line 4 and other under-construction metro corridors, according to officials aware of the developments

Mumbai: The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has ordered an immediate strengthening of safety measures along the under-construction Metro Line 9 following a series of incidents that have resulted in fatalities and serious injuries.

Mumbai Metro Line 9 is an extension of the Red Line (Line 7), connecting Dahisar East to Mira-Bhayandar. (Hindustan Times)

Similar measures will be implemented along Metro Line 4 and other under-construction metro corridors, according to officials aware of the developments, amid growing public scrutiny over safety at metro worksites.

The decision to step up safety measures on Line 9 came after the latest incident on September 20, when a 23-year-old man suffered severe head injuries after a cement block fell on him from an elevated construction site at Kashimira.

On Wednesday, MMRDA commissioner Dr Sanjay Mukherjee convened a meeting with senior officials, contractors and general consultants associated with Line 9 and directed them to strictly adhere to prescribed safety protocols at all ongoing worksites and address any shortcomings, said an MMRDA official.

Additional metropolitan commissioner Dr Ashwini Joshi subsequently inspected Line 9 worksites to review barricading and other safety arrangements along the corridor. “At some locations, she was dissatisfied with the condition of barricades and directed the contractor to immediately strengthen and secure them. This was at sites adjoining roads with heavy pedestrian and vehicular movement,” said the MMRDA official.

In November 2025, a site supervisor fell to his death while working at the under-construction Sai Baba Nagar station in Mira Road. Two months earlier, a 30-kg iron jack came loose from a girder during a girder-lowering operation in the Golden Nest area and crashed onto a road that was loosely barricaded.

The MMRDA’s move also comes amid heightened scrutiny over safety at metro construction sites following a series of accidents on Metro Line 4.

Last week, a 54-year-old delivery executive was killed after an iron barricade along the Metro 4 site on LBS Marg in Vikhroli fell on his moving two-wheeler.

The incident occurred days after two workers died at a Metro 4 site in Wadala when an iron staging platform suddenly collapsed while they were descending from the first floor of the construction site.