Seven accidents at metro sites in eight months: Bombay High Court asks MMRDA for a safety report, next hearing on 26 November

The petitioner in a public interest litigation told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday, 21 October, that between 14 February and 17 October this year there were seven accidents on metro works across the Mumbai region. A bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Kamal Khata then directed the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to report on each incident and on what it does to keep its sites safe, the Free Press Journal and UNI reported. MMRDA has three weeks, and the case returns on 26 November.

At a glance

• Who asked for the report: the Bombay High Court, hearing a PIL filed by advocate Ruju Thakkar.
• What the PIL seeks: filed after the Mulund accident of 14 February, it wants every metro corridor in Mumbai audited for safety.
• Which lines: according to the petitioner, construction work on Metro 2B, Metro 4 and Metro 9.
• MMRDA’s position: senior advocate Ashutosh Kumbhakoni, for the authority, said the authority would answer the incidents raised by the petitioner in a further affidavit.
• Next date: 26 November 2026.

The two accidents described in court

The full list of seven incidents has not been made public. Reports of the hearing give details of two.

• 14 February, LBS Road, Mulund West: a concrete parapet of about 2.5 tonnes fell from the elevated Wadala-Thane-Kasarvadavali Metro 4 line onto an autorickshaw and a car on the road below. One person died and three were injured. A case was registered at Mulund police station.
• 17 October, near Kopri bridge, Thane: a steel reinforcement cage of about 12 tonnes, put up for a pier, came down on a passing car on the Mumbai-bound side of the Eastern Express Highway. MMRDA says the work belongs to its Anand Nagar-Saket elevated road project and that nobody was hurt. According to the petitioner, the driver and a woman passenger suffered serious injuries; the driver himself told reporters his head injury was minor. The accounts of injuries conflict.

What MMRDA has said so far

• Mulund: MMRDA fined the contractor ₹5 crore and the general consultant consortium ₹1 crore, and set up a high-level inquiry committee headed by its Director (Projects). The committee blamed negligence by the contractor, the Reliance Infrastructure-Astaldi joint venture (RAJV). In its finding, the design and the materials were not at fault; the parapet came down after the temporary props under it were taken away.
• After Mulund: the authority said it had begun inspecting all its metro lines and had set up a state-level cell headed by an engineer to check that safety procedures (SOPs) are followed. Officials also said a consultant’s supervisor must be physically present on site and that every site has CCTV cameras.
• Kopri, Thane: the contractor was fined ₹2 crore and a detailed inquiry into the cause was ordered. “Such incidents are unacceptable, and any lapse in construction safety will not be tolerated,” MMRDA said in a statement.
• In court: MMRDA’s counsel told the bench the authority did not see the petition as adversarial and would respond to every incident on affidavit.

Other incidents on record this year

There is no official word yet on which incidents make up the seven cited in court. Two more incidents on these lines were reported this year:

• 15 April, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Metro 2B: a 400-tonne mobile crane lifting a precast beam toppled near the Asian Heart Hospital junction between about 4 am and 4.30 am. MMRDA said a mechanical failure was the cause, nobody was hurt, and the work was being done by J. Kumar Infraprojects Limited. Traffic was diverted together with the traffic police.
• September, Kashigaon (Mira Road), Metro 9: a 23-year-old man standing below an under-construction bridge was injured when a wooden ply fell from it. Kashimira police registered a negligence case against the project’s storekeeper and said they would ask MMRDA for an explanation.

A note on the numbers

The figure of seven accidents comes from the petitioner; MMRDA has not yet filed its own account. Some reports call it a nine-month period, but 14 February to 17 October is a little over eight months. MMRDA says the 17 October incident was on its elevated road project rather than a metro line.

For commuters

• When passing under metro or flyover works, follow traffic police diversions and keep out of barricaded stretches.
• If you see an accident or a dangerous structure at a site, call the emergency number 112.
• MMRDA’s affidavit and the 26 November hearing are expected to put the official account of each of the seven incidents, and of MMRDA’s precautions, on record.

Sources: Free Press Journal (High Court hearing); UNI; eSakal; Free Press Journal (Mulund accident); Free Press Journal (inspection after Mulund); Business Today (Kopri, Thane); Free Press Journal (BKC, Metro 2B); Free Press Journal (Kashigaon, Metro 9)