Mumbai: A crane toppled over while shifting a part of foot overbridge (FOB) of the public works department (PWD) on the Sion-Panvel highway, causing a traffic snarl on the Vashi Creek Bridge. The crane was used to dismantle and shift parts of FOB, an official of PWD said. A new FOB will be placed for local commuters in the coming days.
The incident occurred around 2.30 pm on Sunday and no casualty was reported. A Vashi traffic police officer said that there was no coordination among the Mumbai traffic police, PWD and Navi Mumbai traffic police, which caused inconvenience to motorists.
The FOB shifting work had been going on since 11 am and traffic was diverted to other lanes on the Sion-Panvel highway.
Speaking to The Asian Age, senior police inspector Satish Gaikwad of Vashi traffic police said, “There was no official communication from the Mumbai police and PWD department for the blockage of traffic to carry dismantling work of the bridge. At the eleventh hour, they called us, directing us to operate a half hour block on the Sion-Panvel highway towards Mumbai, which caused hardships to motorists.”
C.K. Singh, a businessman and chairman of a cooperative bank, who was travelling from Badlapur to Mumbai via Sion-Panvel highway, said, “I was stuck in traffic for over two hours on the Vashi Creek Bridge. Generally, it takes two hours to reach Mumbai from Badlapur but it took me four hours to reach Mumbai on Sunday.” He also complained that officials should have informed the people about the dismantling work in advance.
Motorists’ sentiments were echoed by the Vashi traffic police who had to face them.
A traffic police officer, requesting anonymity, said that if the PWD had informed them about the dismantling of the bridge, they would have made an alternate arrangement for the motorists.
The Mumbai traffic police called from the control room to block the traffic for half an hour around 12.30 pm. But the work was not completed till 5 pm. Traffic was at a standstill for over three kilometres from Vashi village.
Meanwhile, the Mumbai traffic police said commuters were requested to use Airoli Naka to travel towards Vashi and avoid Jijabai Bhosle Road, Gidwani Road through Trombay BARC and Mankhurd T-junction because of the collapse.
