Following a potentially serious mishap at a monorail construction site in Parel last week,MMRDA has slapped a penalty of Rs 25,000 and sent a showcause notice to Larsen & Toubro,the contractor. Last Thursday,a concrete beam collapsed on a crane,which was being used to launch it between two pillars of the monorail at Bhoiwada naka in Parel. The beam and the crane were damaged in the process. We have examined previous accidents on monorail construction sites and sent the contractor a notice seeking an explanation for the mishap and what measures it plans to take to ensure there are no further accidents in the future, said MMRDA additional metropolitan commissioner,Ashwini Bhide. L&T and Scomi Engineering,the consortium in-charge of the Chembur-Wadala-Jacob Circle monorail and consultant Louis Berger had submitted a preliminary report on the day of the accident. The report said the supervisor and signalman failed to notice the wire rope of the hydraulic crane was entangled with the metallic structure of the pier. Communication between workers and the supervisory staff on the site needs to improve, Bhide said. Last weeks mishap was the second such incident in the construction of the 20-km Chembur-Wadala-Jacob Circle since work began in 2008.
