Mumbai, Feb 14 – A man died and three others were injured after a section of a bridge under construction for the fourth line of the Mumbai Metro Rail collapsed on passing vehicles in the Mulund area of Mumbai on Saturday. Following this, five employees of two contractor firms were arrested.
A First Information Report (FIR) was registered at the Mulund police station on Saturday against officials of Milan Road Buildtech and DB Hill LBG under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and other charges, police said.
Local BJP MLA Mihir Kotecha claimed that he had pointed out "deficiencies" in the contractor's work during an inspection of the Metro project last month.
Later in the evening, police arrested project director Harish Chauhan, project manager Kuldeep Sapkal, deputy manager Saurab Singh, and supervisor Prashant Bhoir of Milan Road Buildtech, as well as project manager Avdhoot Inamdar of DB Hill LBG, an official said.
While Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh for the deceased man and promised a thorough investigation, opposition leaders criticised the BJP-led government.
The incident took place near the Johnson and Johnson factory on LBS Road at 12.15 pm. The parapet segment fell on a passing autorickshaw and a Skoda car, completely crushing the rickshaw.
Ramdhan Yadav, who was travelling in the rickshaw, died, while Rajkumar Indrajeet Yadav (45), Mahendra Pratap Yadav (52), and Deepa Ruhiya (40) were injured. Rajkumar Yadav's condition was critical, and he was admitted to the ICU at a nearby hospital, a fire brigade official said.
According to MLA Kotecha, Ramdhan and his family members were travelling to a wedding.
In a statement, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is executing the Metro project, said that a portion of the parapet segment collapsed near pier 196, near the Mulund Fire Station.
Line 4 connects Wadala in south-central Mumbai to neighbouring Thane, with a large section passing over the arterial LBS Road.
Kotecha blamed the MMRDA and the contractor. He claimed that the workers mistakenly cut the parapet segment instead of welding and securing it, and that no supervisor was present at the time, in violation of standard operating procedures.
"Critical work like this must be carried out under supervision. The weakened structure collapsed nearly 11 hours later," the legislator said, quoting a Metro official. He also claimed that the contractor had been flagged for negligence on the LBS Road stretch earlier.
He himself had carried out an inspection of the Metro work along the LBS Road with civic and MMRDA officials last month and identified "serious deficiencies" at more than 55 locations, Kotecha said.
"I had formally requested action against the contractor and wrote to MMRDA Commissioner Sanjay Mukherjee recommending blacklisting and suspension. I also raised this matter during the winter session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly," he said.
Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, CM Fadnavis said that a thorough investigation would be conducted, and action would be taken against those responsible.
A safety audit will be conducted immediately at all such construction sites as a preventive measure, he said.
"The accident in Mulund is very unfortunate. Our prayers are with the family of the deceased and those injured. The government and MMRDA will take care of the medical expenses of the injured," said Fadnavis.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray noted that a wall had collapsed and the newly-inaugurated Metro Line 3 had been flooded amid heavy rains last year, and asked if the BJP-led government would blacklist the contractor for the latest incident.
The former minister further said that the contractor would likely face a penalty of a few lakh rupees and receive more contracts.
"If you look closely, the pillars are already painted – before the work was completed...Even today, most infrastructure projects have terrible barricading that either leads to traffic jams or vehicles falling into open pits...Life has no value under the BJP regime," he said.
"Soon, other countries will issue travel warnings for such things in our country," the Worli MLA said.
City Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad asked whether the lives of Mumbai residents have "become so cheap".
In a post on X, she said that authorities were more focused on publicity around infrastructure projects than ensuring public safety, and asked whether quality and technical safety standards were being compromised in the push to complete Metro works.
State Congress chief Harshvardhan Sapkal demanded that CM Fadnavis take responsibility for the accident, which "exposed the reality of the BJP's development model".
Widespread corruption in the ruling alliance has compromised construction quality and public safety, and the slab collapse was an example of such substandard works, he said, asking why adequate safety measures were not in place despite the area being densely populated.
NCP (SP) spokesperson Clyde Crasto said that "the life of a Mumbaikar holds no value" for the government.
He also took a swipe at BJP leader Kirit Somaiya, saying that the Mulund-based politician "has his eyes everywhere except his own backyard".