MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to file within two weeks a detailed reply to a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a third-party safety audit of all metro construction sites in the city following last month’s slab collapse in Mulund.
A division bench of chief justice Alok Aradhe and justice Gautam Ankhad was hearing the PIL filed by advocate Ruju Thakkar. The petition seeks a halt to metro construction at the accident site in Mulund, a structural safety audit of all metro construction works, and disclosure of compensation paid to the family of the deceased and those injured.
On February 14, a concrete parapet slab from the under-construction Metro Line 4 (Wadala–Kasarvadavali) collapsed onto an autorickshaw and a car on the Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Marg in Mulund West. One person was killed and three others were injured. The deceased, Ramdhan Yadav, was travelling in the autorickshaw with two relatives after attending a family function. The driver of a Skoda Kushaq, which was crushed under the slab, also sustained injuries.
The slab, measuring approximately 6×4 feet and weighing a few hundred kilograms, reportedly fell from a pier in the mid-section of the elevated Metro 4 corridor. The incident triggered public outrage and renewed concerns about safety standards at infrastructure projects.
In her petition, Thakkar said that LBS Marg is a crucial arterial road connecting parts of Mumbai like Kurla and Ghatkopar with Thane, making it impossible for commuters to avoid the stretch despite safety concerns. She stated that residents of Mulund, including her family and friends, were apprehensive about travelling beneath the metro line.
Apart from seeking to secure the metro lines, Thakkar also sought details of the compensation awarded to the family of the deceased and the injured. She also urged the court to immediately halt metro work at LBS Marg in Mulund and to initiate a structural safety assessment of all construction sites for various Mumbai metro lines.
Following the slab collapse, several Mumbai residents flagged apparent flaws in the construction quality of metro rail infrastructure on social media, primarily on Lines 4 and 6. MMRDA has maintained that the structures are safe and that necessary precautions are in place.