RailEnquiry

MUMBAI: A mechanical fault in a crane used at the Mumbai Metro construction site at Andheri (W) threw road traffic out of gear for several hours on Thursday. The traffic police had to step up bandobast and create temporary diversions for motorists.Several office-goers were affected as the incident took place during the morning peak hours. "The 400-tonne crane, launching girders on the metro line near Andheri station, stalled due to a mechanical fault around 9 am. Technicians had to be called in and the fault was fixed by 4.45 pm," a Mumbai Metro One official said. "The crane had completed its work at night and was being taken away in the morning when it stalled."The traffic police said the stalled crane blocked a lane on the S V Road-J P Road junction. "We had only one lane for accommodating traffic. Additional policemen were deployed at all prominent junctions to direct motorists. Four to five traffic personnel were posted per junction," said senior inspector Ravindra Patil of the DN Nagar police. "The diversions were temporary. We tried to reduce inconvenience to motorists as much as possible."But office-goers said they had a tough time navigating the busy and congested stretch and there were snarls for nearly five hours. Metro officials said they usually deploy two cranes at the site when they launch girders onto pillars and most of the work is done at night.Mumbai Metro One has additional staffers who work on traffic arrangements as most work is done on busy roads in the suburbs.The 11.4 km first line of the metro, when complete, will have 12 stations. A large part of the work is done and chief minister Prithviraj Chavan had said that it should be running by next year. Work on the ground for the metro line began in 2008 and ran into several problems with clearing the way, as there were many residences and commercial establishments along the route.There were several encroachments along the route. It took much time and effort to get a free right of way along the Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar corridor.