Barricades at Metro rail construction sites damage vehicles

A metal barricade used at a Metro rail construction site at Seven Bungalows, Andheri, collapsed onto a brand new Mercedes on Friday, reports Shahkar Abidi.

A metal barricade used at a Metro rail construction site at Seven Bungalows, Andheri, collapsed onto a brand new Mercedes on Friday.

HT Image

The car’s owner, the general manager of an Andheri firm, had a narrow escape.

At least three similar incidents were recorded at Metro rail construction sites on the same day.

Sanjita Sinha (46), owner of the Mercedes, said: “I was near the Seven Bungalows bus depot when I heard a loud noise and the glass of my Mercedes S-Class shattered.”

The six-ft-long iron barricade badly damaged the car.

Sinha looked around for a Metro project official at the site, but there was nobody to be seen except for a security guard, who also disappeared soon after.

“I am alive only because the car absorbed the impact,” said Sinha. She is now seeking compensation for the damage.

In another incident, a rickshaw driver was hurt when a rod at the Metro site at JP Road in Andheri (W) fell on his vehicle. “It was scary. Luckily, his injuries were minor,” said Gopal Sharma, a shop owner who witnessed the incident.

Last year, close to this spot, a machine used in the construction fell on a rickshaw, killing the passenger and severely injuring the driver.

A spokesperson for Mumbai Metro One Pvt Ltd denied both incidents. “To our knowledge, nothing of the sort happened. But we have sent our engineers to the sites. Since Friday was a holiday, no worker was present at the sites,” he said.

There were two other incidents in which motorists had close shaves on JP Road on Friday. Police Sub-Inspector Seema Khedkar, of the Versova police, said: “An accident case has been registered by Sinha.”