MMRDA Suspends More Officials, Fires General Consultant After Metro 4 Parapet Collapse
MMRDA moved decisively in the wake of Saturday’s parapet collapse on the Metro 4 alignment, suspending two more officials, ordering a departmental inquiry into a fourth, terminating the services of the project’s general consultant and announcing the formation of a vigilance cell. The actions, taken at a meeting on Monday evening ET, follow an accident that killed one person and left three injured when a parapet wall collapsed onto an auto rickshaw at Mulund.
Officials suspended and inquiry ordered
Following an initial suspension of an executive engineer within hours of the accident, the authority has now placed superintending engineer Abhijeet Bhisikar and deputy engineer Snehal Sawant on immediate suspension. Chief engineer Madhukar Kharat is to face a departmental inquiry. Reinstatement of the suspended staff will depend on the outcome of investigations.
The suspended officials had been assigned to inspect the construction site where the parapet failed. Their removal from the Special Intensive Inspection Team has reduced the unit to 11 members; that team was constituted to survey the entire 32. 32-kilometre Metro 4 route and carry out safety checks after the collapse.
General consultant sacked; inspections and work stoppage continue
The authority decided to terminate the services of the general consultant engaged on the project. The consortium in that role comprised DB Engineering & Consulting, Hill International and Louis Berger; steps are expected to begin shortly to appoint a replacement. Construction work on the Wadala–Ghatkopar–Thane–Kasarvadavali corridor will remain suspended until inspectors identify and sign off on all missing safety measures.
The parapet that fell was part of a stretch being constructed by a consortium of contractors, with Milan Road Buildtech operating as a subcontractor for the specific segment at Mulund. Investigators and the continuing inspection team will focus on whether established safety protocols were followed at the site and across similar elevated structures along the route.
Vigilance cell and next steps for safety oversight
As part of a broader push to tighten oversight, the authority announced plans to set up a vigilance cell tasked with surprise site visits, inspections and identification of negligence across projects in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. The cell is intended to provide a permanent mechanism for spot checks and to institutionalize more rigorous monitoring at construction sites.
The Special Intensive Inspection Team will continue site visits for the next two days, with its mandate to locate and ensure rectification of any missing safety measures before work can restart. Until those issues are remedied, the construction halt on the Metro 4 corridor will remain in place.
The unfolding action comes amid heightened public scrutiny of urban infrastructure safety in bombay, where residents and civic authorities alike are demanding faster, clearer accountability and transparent remedies following the fatal collapse. Officials have signalled that disciplinary and contractual actions will be used to reinforce standards and prevent similar incidents as the city’s transit expansion moves forward.
