Sandhurst Road: Wall collapses along railway tracks, disrupts train services

Parts of the same wall had fallen on the tracks in 2010 and 2014 as well, disrupting train services. As part of “knee-jerk measures” taken up by the Central Railway then, a cement wall had been built to replace the portion that had collapsed.

A resident of one of the nine-odd buildings said: “After the collapse in 2014, they had emptied Thorat House near the station. While the Railways had claimed that a building wall fell on the tracks, it was a portion of the retaining wall that had collapsed. No alternative building was constructed to rehabilitate the residents of Thorat House,” a railway official said.

According to the Railways, the officials had asked the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) to ensure that 80-90 people staying in the nine-odd buildings be evacuated so that they can build a new retaining wall near the station. The Railways fear that in the process of breaking the retaining wall, the building structures might get affected, which could lead to collapse.

While construction and maintenance of the retaining wall is under MHADA’s jurisdiction, the railways is responsible for dismantling it.

On Monday, residents of the buildings near the railway tracks met local political leaders and voiced their concerns regarding the threat posed by the dilapidated wall near the station. “We fear that we would be asked to vacate the buildings any time. They must rebuild the retaining wall without displacing us,” Vilas Patil, a resident of a building near the station, said.

According to MHADA officials who visited the site on Monday, demolition of the wall will not damage the buildings. “The foundation of the buildings adjoining the station is strong. Still, we have called for a geological survey of the area to understand if the buildings need to be demolished before removing the wall,” said B P Sherwalkar, executive engineer, MHADA.

By Monday evening, the railways had written to MHADA claiming that the housing authority must check on the structural strength of the buildings if they are to rebuild the wall adjoining the station. “We have agreed to make a new retaining wall near the station. We have submitted the required design of the present wall to the MHADA. It is they who must now decide on when we should pull down the wall,” a senior railway official said.