A man was killed and three others were injured after the parapet fell on a passing auto and a car

Mumbai: The police chargesheet filed over the Feb 14 fatal parapet slab crash at an under-construction Metro-4 site in Mulund said a welder’s warning before the tragedy was ignored. The welder had warned that the parapet should not be detached before being permanently secured but it was carried out to avoid delaying a related work being handled by another contractor, it said.A man was killed and three others were injured after the parapet fell on a passing auto and a car.According to the chargesheet, the collapse was a result of a series of failures in planning, supervision and safety management, rather than a design or material defect. It said the contractor carried out hazardous work above one of the busiest arterial roads in the city without informing police, traffic police, BMC or any other authorities. No traffic diversion, barricading or creation of an exclusion zone was undertaken beneath the worksite despite the risk of concrete falling onto vehicles and pedestrians below, it said.The investigation showed that locals had repeatedly complained about inadequate safety precautions at the construction site before the accident. During interrogation, the welder told police that he had warned his supervisors against removing the turnbuckles supporting the parapet before it was permanently secured. He said he was instructed to complete the work quickly as another contractor was scheduled to begin work at the site.Seven officials and employees of the contractor and consultant firms have been named in the chargesheet filed by Mulund police—welder Ramashish Ramnagina Yadav, Milan Road Buildtech’s project director Harish Tej Singh Chauhan, project manager Kuldeep Jaywant Sankpal, project engineer Saurabh Satyaprakash Singh, supervisor Prashant Haribhau Bhoir, DB Hill-LBG senior engineer Saisuresh Kumar Rama Rao Tutta, and project manager Avadhut Balram Inamdar. They have been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, causing grievous hurt and common intention under BNS.Police have relied on an inquiry report submitted by MMRDA after the accident. According to the report, the collapse was not caused by any design defect, construction material failure or structural deficiency. Instead, it concluded that the parapet fell after its temporary supports were removed without adequate supervision. The inquiry attributed the incident to non-compliance by the contractor and inadequate supervision by the general consultant. It recommended replacing the entire supervisory team responsible for the project package and strengthening safety protocols, including stricter monitoring of temporary supports and work over public roads, to prevent similar incidents.