Mumbai metro pillar collapse: Five arrested, MMRDA imposes ₹5 crore fine on contractor after 1 killed, 3 injured

Mumbai metro pillar collapse: Five people were arrested and ₹5 crore fine was imposed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) on the contractor Reliance Infrastructure-Astaldi (RAJV) and its sub-contractor Milan Road Buildtech LLP after one killed and three injured in a tragic incident on Saturday afternoon, according to Hindustan Times.

In a statement, it said that a general consultant associated with the project, a consortium comprising DB Engineering & Consulting, Hill International Inc and Louis Berger Consulting Private Limited (DB Hill LBG), were fined ₹1 crore.

A parapet segment of a bridge of the under-construction Metro Rail Line 4 collapsed on passing autorickshaw and a Skoda car, completely crushing the rickshaw, in Mulund area. It occurred near the Johnson and Johnson factory on LBS Road at around 12:15 pm.

Metro Line 4 links Wadala in south-central Mumbai with neighbouring Thane, with a significant stretch of the corridor running above the arterial LBS Road.

Mumbai metro pillar collapse victims

Ramdhani Yadav (46), who was seated at the rear of the autorickshaw, died in the accident. The driver, Rajkumar Yadav (45), suffered critical injuries and was admitted to the intensive care unit of a hospital in Mulund. Another passenger in the autorickshaw, Mahendra Pratap Yadav (52), along with the car’s driver, Deepa Ruhiya (40), also met with injuries, though officials said their condition is stable.

Who all were arrested?

An official said that late in evening, police arrested project director Harish Chauhan, project manager Kuldeep Sapkal, deputy manager Saurab Singh and supervisor Prashant Bhoir of Milan Road Buildtech, and project manager Avdhoot Inamdar of DB Hill LBG, reported PTI.

Police said a First Information Report (FIR) was filed at the Mulund police station in the evening against officials of Milan Road Buildtech and DB Hill LBG under Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with other charges.

Local BJP MLA Mihir Kotecha said he had previously pointed out the "lapses" by the contractor during an inspection of the Metro project last month.

Meanwhile, while CM Devendra Fadnavis announced financial assistance of ₹5 lakh for the deceased man and assured a comprehensive investigation, Opposition leaders criticised the BJP-led government over the incident.

He described the accident in Mulund as deeply unfortunate and said the government and the MMRDA would cover the medical expenses of those injured. “The accident in Mulund is very unfortunate. Our prayers are with the kin of the deceased and those injured. The government and MMRDA will take care of medical expenses of the injured,” Fadnavis said.

'Life has no value under the BJP regime'

Aaditya Thackeray of Shiv Sena (UBT) pointed out that a wall had previously collapsed and that the newly inaugurated Metro Line 3 was flooded during heavy rains last year. He questioned whether the BJP-led government would blacklist the contractor over the latest incident.

The former minister added that such action was unlikely, alleging that the contractor would face only a minor penalty of a few lakh rupees and continue to secure more projects.

“If you notice, pillars are already painted- before the work was completed...Even today, most infrastructure works 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, noted PTI report.

“Soon a day will come when (other) countries will issue travel warnings for such things in our country,” the Worli MLA added.