Pier pressure destroys road under Mumbai Monorail

When the cityrsquos Monorail was thrown open to the public the areas around the piers that support the elevated track were at the same level of the road Motorists did not have any problems in navigating the stretch around the piers Now the area surrounding more than 2530 piers between Wadala Depot and Bhakti Park Monorail stations is at a higher level than the roadThe cracks on the road surrounding the piers make this stretch extremely dangerous for motorists PicsPradeep DhivarCracks have also developed on this stretch because of which the entire area surrounding the piers has become uneven posing a serious threat to motorists Requesting anonymity an MMRDA official told midday that the surface might have risen due to the piling work that is taking place at a construction site near this particular Monorail stretchThe area around the piers has risen by as much as 5 inchesThe cracks on the elevated parts on this stretch are clearly visible On Tuesday midday visited the spot and found that an area of about 58 feet around each pier has risen and developed cracks At some places the portion is more than 5 inches above the road surface because of which it becomes difficult for motorists twowheelers are at a greater risk to navigate this stretchRequesting anonymity MMRDA officials blame the quality of Monorail construction and the piling work that is taking place in the nearby construction site for the situation Furthermore these officials say that the problem will be severely accentuated during the monsoon as rainwater would not be able to seep through to the groundThis area is also notorious for streetlights that are perpetually on the blink PRK Murthy chief of transport and communication Department MMRDA told midday ldquoThe construction of the WadalaAnik Road and SionndashKoliwada road has been done via the stone column methodThis is also known as a geogrid system as the construction has to be done on marshy land The work was done by BMC and the procedure was approved by IIT Bombayrdquo Murthy says that the problem might have arisen due to the impact of the previous monsoon since rainwater could not percolate to the water tableldquoThe Monorail has come up and has disturbed the geogrid in the area The area surrounding the pier appears bloated Water did not percolate to the ground and the capillary action around the piers pushed the area surrounding the piers upwardsBut it is not dangerous for the Monorail piers they are completely safe and the examination of the same has been done in the pastrdquo added Murthy According to MMRDA officials a VJTI Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute expert committee has also submitted a report in this regardldquoVJTI has already submitted its report and as a thirdparty safety check we have asked the Central Road Research Institute CRRI to also look into the issue and suggest measures for improving the situationWe are yet to receive the final report but some of the findings from the report say that the reason behind the bloating of surface around the Monorail pillar may be because of the piling activity that is taking place near a construction site that is a few meters away from the Monorail piers Rainwater has also not been able to percolate and reach the groundwater tablerdquo said an MMRDA official