’New fear unlocked’: Portion of busy road in Mumbai’s Dadar caves in, netizens slam BMC

Part of a busy Mumbai road outside the famous Siddhivinayak Temple collapsed on Thursday morning. The incident has sparked widespread condemnation on social media platforms, with many Mumbaikars lashing out at the BMC. The incident also took on a political tone, with members of the Shiv Sena (UBT) accusing the Eknath Shinde government of corruption.

Visuals shared online showed the front left tyre of a steel grey car stuck within the newly created 3 feet by 5 feet crater as locals recorded videos on their mobile phones. Traffic police officials worked with locals to pull the car out of the crater, and other cars were briefly diverted. The incident took place around 11.30 a.m. at the busy Kismat junction on Veer Savarkar Marg in Dadar West.

A civic official said that the local ward staff and employees from their roads department have been sent to the scene, and the damaged portion of the road is being repaired.

The incident appears to have sparked fear in the hearts of several social media users, while others seemed resigned to such instances. “Shocking but not shocking anymore,” said one X user “New fear unlocked!” read another alarmed post. “Kismat ka khel,” jibed a third — an apparent play on the cave-in at Kismat junction.

Others highlighted the ₹59,954.75 crore annual budget announced by the BMC earlier this year and called for the civic body to be held accountable. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation — the richest civic body in India — is responsible for keeping roads in a ‘motorable condition’ within the city. Social media users have since dubbed the road cave-in a “stark reminder of the crumbling infrastructure” in Mumbai with many levelling corruption charges.

“Highest corrupt practices in road construction are going on in all civic bodies,” opined one X user. “Fresh roadwork every year, same issues every monsoon. Where’s the accountability? It's clear municipal scams are draining public funds, but no one seems to care,” added a second.

"The fact that a part of the road caved in on a busy junction like Kismat is appalling and unacceptable. It's fortunate that no one was injured, but the authorities need to be held accountable for their negligence. The BMC and road maintenance authorities have failed to ensure the safety of citizens, and this is a clear example of their incompetence. Immediate action must be taken to repair and maintain our roads to prevent such incidents in the future,” opined a third.

(With inputs from agencies)