Granite slabs topple from metro construction site in Mira Road, none hurt

The MMRDA has imposed penalties of ₹10 crore on the contractor, J Kumar Infraprojects Ltd, ₹1.50 crore on the subcontractor engaged for work on granite slabs, and ₹1.00 crore on the general consultant, Systra-CEG

Mumbai: A school bus ferrying kids home had a narrow escape on Monday morning when some granite slabs fell off from a metro construction site in Mira Road. The slabs landed close to the vehicle, causing the driver to lose control, and its rear tyre burst, although no one was injured in the incident, police officers familiar with the matter told Hindustan Times.

Images and videos showed broken granite slabs and tiles scattered on the road beneath the under-construction Medetiya Nagar metro station

Taking serious note of the incident and related safety lapses, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has imposed penalties of ₹10 crore on the contractor, J Kumar Infraprojects Ltd, ₹1.50 crore on the subcontractor engaged for work on granite slabs, and ₹1.00 crore on the general consultant, Systra-CEG, it said in a statement.

The incident has renewed concerns over safety precautions at metro construction sites, coming barely six months after a concrete parapet segment weighing 1.8 tonnes toppled from a metro construction site at Mulund onto a moving autorickshaw on February 14, killing one person and injuring three others. On April 27, a wooden plank fell off from the elevated metro corridor onto a passing car barely 10 metres from the site of the February 14 accident, though no one was injured in the incident.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray slammed the Mahayuti government over Monday’s incident, and demanded a third-party safety audit of all ongoing metro construction works in Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

According to the police, the school bus was ferrying eight children from school to their homes. Around 11.30am, when the vehicle was passing beneath the upcoming Medetiya Nagar metro station along Dahisar-Bhayander metro route, some granite slabs fell off from the elevated metro corridor onto the road beneath.

The driver, who fled the spot after the incident, told passersby that some slab pieces had struck the vehicle, causing it to veer sharply towards the left and bursting its rear tyre.

The MMRDA, however, claimed that the granite slabs collapsed within the barricaded construction area and the bus merely ran over some broken slab pieces, resulting in a punctured tyre. The incident occurred during ongoing debris removal and material shifting work, when a material basket being handled by a crane accidentally came into contact with granite slabs stacked on a nearby foot overbridge, causing some slabs to topple over into the barricaded area, the MMRDA said in a statement.

Images and videos showed broken granite slabs and tiles scattered on the road beneath the under-construction Medetiya Nagar metro station.

All concerned agencies have been directed to strictly adhere to prescribed safety protocols and implement necessary corrective measures to prevent any further unforeseen incident, the MMRDA statement noted.

Nalin Gupta, managing director, J Kumar Infraprojects, said another contractor was carrying out the debris removal work at the accident site and J Kumar Infraprojects had nothing to do with Monday’s incident.

“We have raised this issue with the MMRDA authorities,” he said.

In a post on social media platform X, Thackeray wondered if citizens’ lives had zero value for the Mahayuti government.

“Construction work of poor quality is being hurriedly pushed through merely to secure commissions and fill contractors’ pockets. No safety norms are being followed,” Thackeray said.

To ensure that such incidents do not happen again, the contractor must be immediately blacklisted, and a criminal case must be registered against the contractor and concerned officials, Thackeray said, alongside seeking a third-party safety audit of all ongoing metro construction work in the MMR.

With inputs from Swapnasaurabha Kulshreshtha