The barricade, measuring roughly six by eight feet, collapsed onto Wasim Haidar Rizvi’s Honda Unicorn as he rode along LBS Road near Rossary Biotech on Friday, shattering the bike and crushing the rider. Police from the Parksite area responded within minutes, retrieving the fallen metal and transporting Rizvi to Rajawadi Hospital, where doctors declared him dead before he could leave the premises.
The incident follows a string of Metro Line 4 construction mishaps in Mumbai, including a February 14 collapse that killed one person and injured three others, and an April incident where a wooden plank fell on a passing car. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) spokesperson said the material fell from the viaduct, but the claim was not corroborated on site, raising questions about site safety protocols.
Rizvi, a plumber from Khadi Gaon in Ghatkopar West’s Ashok Nagar, had been working on a residential project the week before. A neighbor remembered him saying, "I always keep my head down, but today I felt lucky," before the barricade fell. His sudden death has left his wife, who was waiting at his home, stunned and grieving.
Parksite Police have registered a case and will conduct a forensic investigation into the construction site’s safety measures. The MMRDA has pledged a review of all active metro construction zones, and city officials are expected to announce new safety guidelines before the end of the month.