A 24-ft-deep & 10-ft-wide hole appeared at Sahar Road in Andheri: Activist MUMBAI: A cavity emerged late on Friday in P&T Colony at Sahar Road in Andheri (East) where tunnelling work is underway for the construction of Metro Line 7A . A total of nine families who reside near the cave-in site were shifted to a nearby hotel by the contractor. Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority ( MMRDA ), which is executing the project, confirmed that there were no injuries or damage to property as a result of the incident.
"A massive hole appeared during the Metro Line 7A construction work, posing a threat to nearby buildings. Residents first reported the incident around 10:10pm on Aug 23," said Godfrey Pimenta of the NGO Watchdog Foundation. "According to our information, a 24-foot-deep and 10-foot-wide cave-in occurred, which was addressed by J Kumar Contractor for Metro Line 7A by filling the gaping hole with around 20 truckloads of reinforced cement concrete," he said.
An MMRDA spokesperson stated: "During the tunnelling, an underground cavity and weak local soil strata were unexpectedly encountered. These conditions had not been identified or analysed before the tunnelling activities began on the road surface in P&T Colony." Upon discovering the issue, tunnelling operations with Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) were immediately halted, and the subsided soil portion was stabilised through grouting and concreting.
The spokesperson further said, "As a safety measure, residents of nearby buildings were promptly relocated to hotel rooms in the vicinity." Tunnelling will resume only after ensuring the stability of the soil and the effectiveness of the cement grouting in the area. "No individuals or property were harmed during this incident, and all necessary precautions are being taken to prevent further cave-ins," the spokesperson assured.
Metro Line 7A will connect Andheri East with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), extending the operational Line 7 (Andheri East-Dahisar East). The entire tunnelling project is being carried out at depths ranging from 12 to 28 metre. The 3.
4km-long Line 7A corridor will run partially elevated and parallel to the Western Express Highway and the Sahar elevated road, with 2.5km of the corridor being underground..
