BEST bus stuck in road cave-in at Girgaon

Mumbai: A BEST bus was stranded for 1.5 hours after the road caved in near Thakurdwar. BMC is addressing the issue, no injuries reported.

Mumbai: A Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus was stranded for over one-and-half hours near Thakurdwar junction in south Mumbai on Monday morning after the road beneath its rear left tyre caved in. The incident occurred close to the under-construction Girgaon station on the Metro 3 route and officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) roads department are working on rectifying the problem, said sources in the civic body.

While the bus was travelling along Babasaheb Jaykar Marg, the road caved in, causing the rear left tyre to sink into the depression (Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)

According to BEST officials, the single-decker airconditioned bus is owned by Tata Motors, a wet lease operator with the undertaking, and it plies on route number 121 from Backbay Depot to J Mehta Road. Around 9.30am, when the bus was passing through Babasaheb Jaykar Marg, a patch of the road at the border of C and D wards and close to the Girgaon underground metro station suddenly caved in.

“The bus belonged to the Backbay depot and had departed from the depot at 8.45am. At 9:25am, while it was traveling on Babasaheb Jaykar Marg, the road caved in, causing the rear left tyre to sink into the depression,” said Sudas Sawant, spokesperson, BEST undertaking. “There were no injuries and the bus did not sustain any significant damage.”

The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL), which is constructing the Girgaum underground metro station, said the cave-in may have been due to leakage from the underground water, sewer or storm water drain network which eroded the soil beneath the asphalt.

“A nearby utility leakage seems to have caused ground loss and created a cavity that was not visible on the surface,” an MMRCL spokesperson told Hindustan Times. “It is likely that the road caved in when the loaded bus passed over it.”

MMRCL said it was coordinating with BMC officials to trace and address any leakages from utility lines. BMC officials said necessary measures were being taken to reinstate the affected road at the earliest and prevent any recurrence.