A 23-year-old man suffered serious head injuries after a large cement block reportedly fell from the elevated Metro Line 9 construction site in Kashimira on Sunday afternoon, raising fresh concerns about safety arrangements around the Mumbai region’s ongoing metro works.
The victim, identified as Shadab, was crossing the road at about 1pm when he stopped to answer a phone call. The cement block then fell on his head, according to a report by the Times of India. He was left on the road for nearly an hour, the report said, as heavy vehicles parked at the spot made it difficult for people to notice him.
A passerby eventually spotted Shadab and took him to a hospital in an autorickshaw. Kashimira police senior inspector Rajendra Kamble said the injured man was undergoing treatment at Wockhardt Hospital in Mira Road. The report did not provide further details about the extent of his injuries or his medical condition.
The incident occurred on the Metro Line 9 corridor, which connects Dahisar East with Mira Bhayander. The elevated line is being built through densely used urban areas where construction activity takes place close to roads, pedestrians and moving traffic. The reported fall has therefore brought attention to the immediate safety measures in place below and around the work site.
The latest incident comes about a month after another safety lapse was reported at Medetiya Nagar station on the same corridor. Granite stones fell into a barricaded work area, and some of the stones later punctured the tyres of a passing school van, according to the Times of India report.
Following that earlier incident, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, or MMRDA, imposed a fine of Rs 10 crore on contractor J Kumar Infraprojects Ltd and Rs 2.5 crore on two agencies. The report did not identify the two agencies or specify the precise nature of the penalties imposed on them.
Local residents alleged that adequate safety measures were not being followed at the Kashimira construction site. They also claimed that construction material, iron rods and other metal objects had fallen from the site on earlier occasions. These allegations have not been independently confirmed in the supplied report.
There was no official response from the contractor or the civic authorities regarding the latest allegations at the time of publication, according to the report. The immediate official information available was the statement from Kashimira police confirming that Shadab was receiving treatment at the Mira Road hospital.
