Wall collapses, landslide hit traffic
MUMBAI:TRAFFIC movement across the city was affected on Thursday as heavy rain and winds led to landslides, wall collapses and trees being uprooted in various parts of the city over the past two days.
According to Mumbai Police wall collapses were reported at nine locations while there were 339 instances of trees being uprooted in the past 24 hours.
Later on Wednesday, a part of the retaining wall of the ridge road on NS Patkar Marg collapsed, leading to traffic congestion as both sides of the road were closed, said Pravin Padwal additional commissioner of police (traffic), adding, “Civic authorities are there and restoration work is underway.”
Another landslide took place on the western express highway (WEH) near Kandivli on Wednesday night. “This is the second time that a landslide has occurred at the same location within 48 hours, due to which traffic was affected on WEH,” Padwal said.
BMC KNEW KANDIVLI LANDSLIDE SITE WAS VULNERABLE: GSI
The Geological Survey of India (GSI) said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had prior information about the threat of a landslide at the site in Kandivli along the WEH.
GSI scientists said BMC was told that the site was among 249 ‘vulnerable’ locations in the 2018 report Identification of Vulnerable Inhabited Hill Slopes in Mumbai.
The report was undertaken at the request of BMC in 2017.
“The particular location was identified as a low to moderately vulnerable (Class-iv) area and precautionary and protection measures were suggested,” said Dr Saibal Ghosh, director (Geology), GHRM Centre, GSI.
A senior BMC official said all measures had been undertaken except construction of the retaining wall and added efforts would be taken to address the concerns.