Metro 4 incident: Story of negligence, government apathy, dubious consultancy, and safety concerns

 “Government is paying hospital bills, but we expect compensation as Rajkumar Yadav has a family, who are dependent on him. It will take over a year to recover from the injuries that occurred during the accident,” said Vikas Yadav (31), relative of Rajkumar Yadav (45) and Mahendra Yadav (52), who were injured in the Mulund Metro-4 slab collapse incident.

According to Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) officials, the accident happened as a concrete parapet segment from the under-construction Metro Line 4 viaduct fell onto the autorickshaw and a car, leaving three injured and one dead. 

The accident occurred on February 14, 2026 around 12.40p.m., when members of the Yadav family, including Rajkumar, Mahendra, and Ramdhan Yadav, were travelling in an autorickshaw in Mumbai’s Mulund area for wedding shopping. Ramdhan died, Rajkumar, Mahendra, and another car driver, Deepa Ruhiya (40), were injured. Autorickshaw driver Rajkumar remains critical in the ICU, says Vikas. 

Ramdhan’s family, who is originally from Jaunpur district in Uttar Pradesh, received 39.5 lakhs as compensation. MMRDA gave ₹15 lakh to the victim’s family, the contractor provided ₹20 lakh, and an additional ₹4.50 lakh was given for the air ambulance to shift the body to Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh. Another ₹5 lakh was announced by the Chief Minister in compensation. “We received compensation, but demand government jobs for the children of my brother,” said Ramsamuj Yadav. 

This is the seventh incident since 2022, at least five people died, including workers, and several others were injured in metro-related accidents. On November 25, a supervisor, Farhan Ahmed, died after falling from a Metro bridge during an inspection on Metro line 9. In December 2024, a cement mixer truck operator, Ashish Gyandas, died during work on Metro line 9 and in August, a worker died on Metro line 9 after falling from a crane. In January 2022, a worker died after a girder crane collapsed during Metro-6-line work. 

All these accidents raised concerns over the safety of the public and workers working at the metro construction site. About 337 km of the metro network will be built in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Out of this, work on 121 km of metro lines is currently underway. In the last few days, several incidents have been reported on Metro 9, Metro 5 and Metro 4 lines, making safety more racking issue. The metro projects hold the largest share of the MMRDA budget, i.e. ₹13,838.88 crore, and the work on several cities is ongoing, including Metro Line 2A (D.N. Nagar to Dahisar), Metro Line 2B (D.N. Nagar to Mandale), Metro Line 4 (Wadala–Kasarvadavali), Metro Line 6 (Swami Samarth Nagar–Kanjurmarg), Metro Line 4A (Kasarvadavali-Gaimukh), and others. MMRDA has ordered a State-level safety cell, aiming to monitor all construction sites of the metro network in Mumbai. 

Action taken on the accident 

So far in the case of the Metro 4 incident, MMRDA imposed a fine of ₹5 crores on the contractor, Milan Road Buildtech LLP, ₹crore on the consultant, and an investigation is underway. MMRDA also suspended executive engineer Satyajeet Salve and three others. Calling the consultant “negligent”, MMRDA official said, “A notice was also issued 15 days before the accident. The contract is cancelled, and another consultant will be appointed soon.” 

In the incident, MMRDA also asked police to take cognisance of the incident to file the FIR in a letter dated February 15. According to police, a piece of slab fell as a worker had cut through the interlock between two parapet segments, and no supervisor was present at the site. Police booked seven people under Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), and others of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and arrested Milan’s project director, Harish Chauhan; manager, Kuldeep Sapkal; deputy manager, Saurabh Singh; supervisor, Prashant Bhoir; and DB Hill LBG, supervisory agency project manager, Avdhoot Inamdar. 

DB Hill LBG stands for Deutsche Bahn Engineering and Consulting, Hill International Inc, and Louis Berger Consulting Private Ltd, the company which was a consultant for the Metro 4 line. The role of the consultancy is to supervise the contractor, check the quality of the work, verify the safety measures, obtain the necessary permits, and also check whether the contractor has submitted the cost of the work done correctly. 

Mumbai-based social activist Sagar Devere criticised the government for hiring DB Hills LBG despite having criminal charges. “Louis Berger is accused of being involved in a multi-crore bribery case and has two separate cases registered against it in Assam and Goa for allegedly bribing unnamed “officials” to corner water management consultancy projects. It has bribed Indian officials with several crores of rupees to win two major water developmental projects in Goa and Guwahati,” he said. 

He also recently raised why no FIR was made against the main contractor and officers, will small fish be sacrificed for show? Who is backing managing partner, Aplesh Patel and technical director Ganesh Gholap of Milan Road Buildtech, Madhukar Kharat, director (Addl. Charge) Metro Line-4, M.M.R.D.A, and Arun Kumar Singh, (project director-(DB Hill -LBG)

“DB Hill LBG’s contract is terminated, and we have also sent 150 show-cause notices to the consortium across various Metro projects in the last two years,” said MMRDA senior official, while speaking to media persons. 

MMRDA has also constituted a Special Intensive Safety Inspection Team and a Mandatory Corridor-wide inspection programme for Metro Line 4 (Wadala-Kasarvadavali). “This inspection is without prejudice to the ongoing inquiry and to mitigate risk, systemic correction, and public safety assurance,” said the MMRDA authority. The committee included the MMRDA team leader, Basavraj M. Bhadragond, director (Projects), two deputy team leaders, and eight members. 

Published – February 21, 2026 09:25 am IST