The incident occurred at around 1.50 pm on the Mumbai-bound carriageway of the Eastern Express Highway near the Kopri railway bridge, close to Tulja Bhavani Temple in Thane West. Officials said the cage, meant for construction of a pier, tilted and fell onto the road as a sedan was passing below.
Eyewitnesses said that they heard a loud creaking sound before the steel structure buckled. The rods reportedly damaged the car’s roof and smashed its windshield, while the occupants had a narrow escape.
The driver told mediapersons that he initially thought a stone had fallen on the vehicle and stopped, only to realise how close the family had come to a serious accident. He said he suffered a minor head injury and that a woman passenger also received minor injuries, though neither required medical intervention.
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However, MMRDA maintained that no injuries were reported in the incident. The differing accounts have added to concerns over safety protocols at active infrastructure sites along busy corridors.
MMRDA said it viewed the incident with “utmost seriousness” and announced a ₹2-crore penalty on the contractor executing the Anand Nagar-Saket Elevated Road project. The authority also ordered an investigation to establish the cause of the collapse and identify individual or systemic safety failures.
“Such incidents are unacceptable, and any lapse in construction safety will not be tolerated,” MMRDA said in a statement, adding that corrective measures would be enforced to prevent a recurrence.
Teams from the Regional Disaster Management Cell, Naupada Police and the Traffic Police rushed to the spot after the incident. A crane was deployed to remove the toppled steel structure, and the damaged car was towed away, allowing traffic movement to resume.
The incident has once again raised questions about construction safety near live traffic, particularly on high-speed corridors such as the Eastern Express Highway, where even a brief lapse can put commuters at serious risk.