Mumbai: Powai Covid-19 centre wall falls, Andheri bridge caves in

The collapsed retaining wall of a Covid-19 quarantine facility in Powai. Pic/Atul Kamble

Two disasters struck L ward on Friday as the heavy monsoon rain continues to lash the city. The intermittent, but heavy rain, did not even spare the BMC, damaging its training centre in Powai, which has been converted into a Covid-19 quarantine and isolation facility. Another incident was reported in Andheri East, where a portion of a bridge caved in, shutting down vehicular movement.

The retaining wall of the isolation and quarantine centre at Chandivali, Powai, collapsed and its open area sunk in, taking down several vehicles parked on the premises. Fortunately, there were no casualties or injuries. Either the excessive rain or construction work nearby could have caused the massive damage.

Civic engineers are identifying the cause of the problem, said ward officer Manish Valaniu.

The bridge that was damaged on Friday passes over Tansa Pipeline on the Marwah road, and connects to the Saki-Vihar road. The BMC and the traffic police immediately cut off access for vehicular traffic. Although the bridge was not on the city's dilapidated list, it was due for repair.

A civic official from the bridge department, not willing to be named, said, "Vehicular movement on the bridge has been shut as the approach road caved in and fell. We are now going to reconstruct it and the drawings for the reconstruction have been completed. It was anyway due for repair and initially the work was planned after the monsoon."