Mumbai Coastal Road witnesses its first accident; car suffers damage after hitting tunnel wall

A car hit the wall and spun around, said an official. No one was hurt, but the accident affected traffic on the Coastal Road for some time, he added.

As per a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) statement, the car was travelling at 60 kmph.

The driver claimed that its steering wheel was “loose” which caused him to lose control, the statement added.

“While live monitoring CCTV cameras inside Priyadarshini Park Control room, we found that there was some issue inside the tunnel and a vehicle had stopped near CP-5 (Crossing Point) around 12:42 pm,” a BMC official said.

A person called from the nearest Emergency Call Box around 12:43 pm and informed about the accident. An operator at the Local Operation Maintenance Room immediately checked CCTV footage and alerted his superiors, he added.

Traffic police had earlier given the time of the accident as 2.30 pm. Police had also said that another car dashed the first one from the rear end moments after the former hit the wall, but BMC officials said no other vehicle was involved in the accident.

An eye-witness told PTI that she tried to alert authorities after watching an accident ahead, but could not get mobile network inside the tunnel and the emergency communication system was not easily visible.

Police as well as BMC officials rushed to the spot and the car, which had suffered considerable damage, was towed away.

The traffic was normal after 1.30 pm, the BMC statement said.

The 10.5 km-long south-bound carriageway of the Coastal Road which links Worli in central Mumbai with Marine Lines was inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on March 11, 2024. The construction of the carriageway in the opposite direction is underway.

As per BMC data, around 2.15 lakh vehicles travelled on Coastal Road between March 12 to 30.