A 23 year old man was critically injured after a heavy cement block reportedly fell on his head from an under-construction Metro bridge in the Kashimira area of Mira Road. The victim, identified as Shadab, was standing on the road on his mobile phone outside Akshit Bar, when the cement block suddenly collapsed and struck him, NDTV reported.
The impact left Shadab severely injured and bleeding on the road. He reportedly remained there for nearly an hour before he was noticed by a local resident. The incident was reported at around 1pm on Sunday.
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According to NDTV, Shadab was difficult for passersby to spot as his body was obscured by heavy vehicles parked along the stretch. A local resident eventually noticed him and rushed him to Wockhardt Hospital in an auto-rickshaw.
Shadab is currently undergoing emergency surgery. His family is also in the process of filing a police complaint over the incident.
The accident has raised questions over safety arrangements at the ongoing Metro construction site. MNS President Sandeep Rane accused the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) of repeatedly failing to ensure adequate safety measures.
Rane alleged that there was no barricading beneath the elevated construction site to prevent people from walking underneath it and held contractor J Kumar responsible. He also told The Indian Express that Shadab runs a mattress shop in Kashimira and that his father was outside Mumbai when the accident occurred.
Rane has demanded suo motu action against those responsible and warned that MNS workers would approach MMRDA offices if strict action is not taken, NDTV reported.
The incident has also renewed concerns over safety around under-construction infrastructure projects. Local residents told media outlets that construction material, iron rods and other metal objects had allegedly fallen from the Metro site on previous occasions, The Times of India reported.
The incident occurred along the Metro Line 9 corridor, which connects Dahisar East with Mira-Bhayandar. The line is currently operational up to Kashigaon, while three remaining stations are expected to open by December, The Indian Express reported.
The Kashimira incident was the third reported accident along Mumbai's Metro corridors in 10 days, according to The Indian Express. A day earlier, a 54-year-old plumber and delivery executive was killed after an iron barricade reportedly fell on him at a Metro 4 construction site in Vikhroli West.
The incidents have renewed scrutiny of safety measures at Mumbai's Metro construction sites.
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