THANE: A massive 12-tonne steel reinforcement cage meant to form a pier of the under-construction Anand Nagar-Saket elevated road came crashing down on a moving sedan on the busy Eastern Express Highway near Kopri railway bridge on Saturday afternoon, narrowly averting what could have been a major tragedy.The mishap occurred around 2pm on the Mumbai-bound carriageway. Eyewitnesses said they heard a loud creaking sound before the towering network of steel rods buckled and almost collapsed onto the passing car. The driver and his female passengers had a narrow escape even as the network of rods ripped open portion of the car roof and smashed the windshield.“I initially thought some stone had fallen and immediately halted, but was shocked to see how narrowly we escaped. I suffered minor injuries to my head while my passenger also got minor injured but not requiring medical intervention,” he told the media.The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which is executing the project through a contractor, however claimed no injuries were reported. The Naupada police team that reached out to the driver said they refused to file a complaint. A station diary entry has been made, said an official.The incident has raised serious questions over construction safety on one of the city’s busiest traffic corridors. With vehicles streaming through the stretch through the day, a similar collapse during peak-hour traffic could have had devastating consequences. Following the incident, the MMRDA announced a Rs 2-crore penalty on the contractor and ordered a detailed investigation into the collapse.“We view this incident with utmost seriousness. Such incidents are unacceptable, and any lapse in construction safety will not be tolerated,” the authority said in a statement, adding that corrective measures would be enforced to prevent a recurrence. The incident that comes close on the heels of a quality issue reported at Kasarwadavli flyover leading to it being shut a year after its inauguration has now triggered concerns among experts over the quality of construction and safety. .
