A portion of a road caved in at Vakola on Friday, but there was no casualty. While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) blamed the Metro work for the incident, Metro authorities denied the allegation.
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The incident on the service road going towards the Western Express Highway was reported around 9 a.m.. Since the spot was very close to Vakola police station, agencies were mobilised immediately and the pit resulted from the cave in was barricaded.
“The cave in occurred due to ongoing Metro work. The traffic movement is regular except near the barricaded portion,” Alka Sasane, assistant municipal commissioner, H East ward, said.
While the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL) repaired the road on priority, it claimed that it did not happen due to its work. An MMRCL spokesperson said, “The cave in has been investigated. As per data, there was neither excess output of muck during tunnelling in this portion nor excess grouting material was used. Metro 3 tunnel has already passed through that region. Apparently, it’s an old stone mine that might be loosely filled and caved in for a reason not attributable to our tunnelling work.”
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When asked why then the MMRCL filled the pit, the spokesperson said since the spot was close to ongoing Metro work, it did the repair.
The city has seen several incidents where Metro work has affected structures, buildings. In fact, the BMC has levied a penalty on Metro authorities for water or sewage pipeline bursts on multiple occasions.