Mumbai: The portion of the Babasaheb Jaykar Marg in Girgaon that caved in on Monday will be reconstructed by Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (MMRCL). The BMC officials who visited the site on Monday found no leakage through the water main and observed that the road sinking may be due to soil movement below the road surface due to the adjacent deep excavation carried out by MMRCL. The depth of excavation is about more than 30 feet.
Additional Municipal Commissioner, Abhijit Bangar said, “Road surface area admeasuring about 30 mt X 10 mt, is required to be re-excavated. The affected portion of the road will have to be reconstructed and the work will be carried out by MMRCL. The road is partially shut now.”
On Monday, at 9.25 am, a portion of the road caved in under the left rear tyre of a BEST bus at the Takudwar junction at Babasaheb Jaykar Marg near Girgaon Metro station of Aqua 3 line. No injuries were reported.
The MMRCL in its statement said, "Water ingress was observed in the basement pit of the proposed Girgaon rehabilitation building, likely due to a nearby utility leakage. This seems to have caused ground loss, forming a cavity that was not visible on the surface. MMRCL is actively coordinating with BMC officials to trace and address any leakages from the water main, sewer main, or storm water drain SWD network," the statement said.
Later in the day, the site was inspected by BMC officials, including the Assistant Commissioner (C ward), Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Infrastructure), and the DGM of MMRCL, who was also present.
“Even though the cavity in photographs is seen admeasuring 4 mt X 2 mt, the road surface area admeasuring about 30 mt X 10 mt, is required to be re-excavated and treated suitably for reinstatement. DGM MMRCL said that a Geotechnical Engineer has been called for investigation of the causes, and then after MMRCL will start the work of reinstatement,” the official from BMC’s Road department informed.
The officials also stated that no major leakage was found from the BMC utility, as claimed by MMRCL. The main cause of the road cave-in was likely due to the deep excavation carried out by MMRCL for the foundation of the Rehabilitation building.
Meanwhile, the Babasaheb Jaykar Marg will remain closed for a stretch of 300 meters until road repair work is completed. Traffic on this route has been diverted via M.K. Road and Girgaon Church Road.
