Mumbai: Hanging Gardens landslide shuts road on Malabar Hill for 3 months – Times of India

MUMBAI: A portion of a retaining wall collapsed along BG Kher Road (Ridge Road) near Hanging Gardens in south Mumbai during heavy rainfall on Thursday morning. It caused a landslide, with debris falling onto the road below that leads to Kemps Corner, damaged water pipelines and uprooted around 15 trees on the hill slope. The stretch between Hanging Gardens till the Kemps Corner traffic signal, a crucial connectivity for VVIP movement, will remain shut for vehicles for three months till the BMC rebuilds the retaining wall and the cracked road. The bridge from Kemps Corner towards Pedder Road may remain closed for a day or two till debris is cleared.
After the incident, traffic police shut both bounds of Pedder Road from Kemps Corner up to Chowpatty for vehicles. Ridge Road, where the landslide occurred, was also closed.

An excavator on site following the collapse of Ridge Road’s retaining wall
“South-bound motorists coming from Mahalaxmi are diverted below the Kemps Corner flyover. We have suggested using Haji Ali – Tardeo Road – Nana Chowk-Opera House for south-bound vehicles,” a traffic police officer said.
North-bound motorists are diverted near Wilson College and redirected towards Opera House. “Northward travellers can use Opera House – Nana Chowk – Tardeo Circle – Tardeo Road – Haji Ali. Additional traffic personnel have been deployed to guide motorists,” said the officer.
Municipal commissioner IS Chahal, who visited the spot, told the police that once the debris is cleared, the road below Kemps Corner flyover will be kept free-flowing for vehicular movement. The retaining wall collapse tilted around 50 old fully-grown trees, which are hanging dangerously, affecting repair work. Four water pipelines passing beneath BG Kher Road were badly damaged and affected water supply to Altamont Road, Pedder Road and Kemps Corner. The BMC water reservoir is situated on the hilltop from where supply goes to nearby areas.
The BMC will give alternate connections between reservoirs and unaffected pipeline portions to those affected. But this could take a few days. The civic administration started to supply tanker water to housing societies in the vicinity from Thursday onwards.
A senior BMC official said, “We have asked a consultant to let us know the work required to restore the retaining wall and how much damage it has caused to the hill slope. There are big cracks on B G Kher Road, which need major repairs. So, we decided to close it for three months.”
The private road inside the Parsi Tower of Silence (Doongerwadi) and its pavilion used for prayers were also badly damaged due to the cave-in.
Doongerwadi manager Vistaspar Mehta said its managing committee will decide about the repair of the damaged portions.
Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray visited the site on Thursday evening to assess the damage, accompanied by environment minister Aaditya Thackeray and civic officials.