A reinforcement cage or metal construction mould weighing about 12 tonnes toppled onto a moving car at Kopri Bridge in Thane on Saturday afternoon, prompting the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to impose a Rs 2 crore penalty on the contractor working on the Anand Nagar-Saket Elevated Road project. No injuries were reported.
The incident took place at around 1.50 pm near Tulja Bhavani Temple in Bhaskar Colony along the Eastern Express Highway, according to the Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC) and MMRDA. The falling structure damaged the car’s front windshield while it was passing through the construction zone.
Police, traffic officials, disaster management personnel and civic staff reached the site after the incident. A crane was deployed to remove the tilted structure and clear the road. MMRDA said the damaged vehicle had been removed and that the toppled reinforcement cage was being safely cleared with assistance from the crane.
The authority said it was treating the incident with utmost seriousness and would not tolerate lapses in construction safety. It has ordered a detailed investigation to establish the cause of the collapse and identify any safety failures at the site.
“Such incidents are unacceptable and any lapse in construction safety will not be tolerated,” MMRDA said in a statement. The authority added that necessary corrective measures would be enforced to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The Anand Nagar-Saket Elevated Road is being constructed as part of the region’s expanding road infrastructure network. The incident occurred on an existing, heavily used road corridor, bringing traffic and construction activity into direct contact at a location used by passing vehicles.
The reported weight of the structure means that the incident involved a significant load falling into the path of live traffic. Although there were no reported injuries, the damage to the vehicle has raised questions about how construction materials and temporary structures are secured above or beside operational carriageways during elevated-road works.
MMRDA said public safety remained its highest priority and assured that strict accountability would be enforced at every project site. The authority’s investigation is expected to determine the technical and operational causes of the failure and identify the corrective measures required before work continues at the affected location.
