Mulund Metro Slab Collapse: 1 Dead, 3 Injured, 5 Arrested
A Metro construction slab collapsed in Mulund, killing one man and injuring three, leading to protests, arrests, and increased compensation for the victim’s family.
A tragic accident took place on 14 February in Mumbai’s Mulund area when a concrete slab from the under-construction Metro Line 4 suddenly collapsed around noon on LBS Road. The heavy slab fell on an auto-rickshaw and a Skoda car passing below, creating panic in the busy area.
One man, Ramdhani Yadav, 46, lost his life in the accident. He had come to Mumbai from Uttar Pradesh to attend a wedding. He was earlier elected as the head of Bharthani village in Uttar Pradesh on a Samajwadi Party ticket. Three others – Rajkumar Indrajit Yadav, Mahendra Pratap Yadav, and Deepa Rahul Ruia – were injured and rushed to hospital. Rajkumar and Mahendra are in the ICU and said to be in critical condition, while Deepa, who suffered minor injuries, was discharged the same day.
Deepa Ruia, 40, was driving the Skoda car when the slab fell. Her car’s dashboard and bonnet were badly damaged. The other three victims were related to each other. Rajkumar Yadav, 45, who was driving the auto-rickshaw, is the brother-in-law of Mahendra Yadav, 52. The deceased, Ramdhani Yadav, was their uncle.
Eyewitnesses said the impact was so strong that Rajkumar got trapped inside the damaged rickshaw for nearly 30 minutes. A crane had to be brought to lift the heavy slab. One of the first responders said that when they pulled out Ramdhani’s body, it appeared he had bled to death. He added that the driver was vomiting blood and looked like he might lose consciousness at any moment.
Emergency teams including the Mumbai Fire Brigade, police, disaster management officials, and Metro authorities quickly reached the spot. The area was blocked and rescue operations were carried out.
An FIR was registered at Mulund Police Station against officials of Milan Road Buildtech and DB Hill LBG. The Maharashtra government suspended an executive engineer and imposed a ?6 crore penalty on the project’s contractors and consultants. Five employees, including the project director, were arrested.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said a full investigation would be conducted. He announced ?5 lakh compensation for Ramdhani’s family and said that the government would bear the medical expenses of the injured.
The next day, Ramdhani’s family members and people from the Yadav community protested at the accident site. They refused to take his body home and demanded ?2 crore compensation and a government job for one family member. They said Ramdhani had three daughters and the family would not be able to manage their education and marriage expenses with such a small amount. They asked for a written assurance from the authorities.
A relative, Shashikant Yadav, claimed that the contractors had privately offered ?15 lakh in addition to the ?5 lakh government relief, but the family rejected the offer. Police later took the family to the police station for discussions.
In response to the protest, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde ordered a safety audit of the entire Metro stretch and increased the compensation to ?15 lakh for the family.
The incident has once again raised serious questions about safety measures at construction sites in the city. Many people are asking whether proper precautions were taken and whether such accidents can be prevented in the future.
