Mumbai Coastal Road Tunnel Sees First Accident As Car Hits Wall, No Injuries

New Delhi: The recently inaugurated Coastal Road in Mumbai witnessed its first accident on Thursday afternoon when a speeding car rammed into the wall of a tunnel, news agency PTI reported.

The incident occurred around 2:30 pm in the south-bound tunnel near its Marine Drive exit, as confirmed by the police.

As per a police official, the initial collision caused one car to spin around, and moments later, another vehicle collided with it. Fortunately, there were no injuries, although the accident did disrupt traffic along the Coastal Road for some time.

Stretching over 10.8km, the road features a two-kilometre tunnel section between Priyadarshini Park and Marine Drive.

As per reports, police was alerted by a person who called from the nearest Emergency Call Box (ECB) approximately 2:43 pm. The operator stationed at the Local Operation Maintenance Room (LOMR) promptly attended to the call and swiftly relayed the information to the relevant department after verifying the footage from the CCTV cameras.

On being alerted, traffic police and officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation promptly arrived at the scene. The severely damaged vehicle, that first hit the wall of the tunnel, was subsequently towed away for assessment.

The first phase of the Coastal Road, linking Worli in central Mumbai to Marine Lines in the south, was inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on March 11.

Civic officials had previously said that over 16,000 vehicles took the Mumbai Coastal Road between Worli and Marine Lines on its first day of operation.

Data shared by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation showed that within 12 hours of opening to the public, 16,331 vehicles accessed the four-lane south-bound carriageway of the corridor. Traffic peaked between 3 pm and 4 pm, with 1,941 vehicles, equivalent to 32 vehicles per minute, traversing the route.

During the initial operational hour, the road witnessed 480 vehicles, or eight per minute, while the final hour saw 496 vehicles, as per data shared by BMC. Throughout the day, traffic flow remained steady, with notable spikes observed between noon and 1 pm, 2 pm and 3 pm, and from 3 pm to 4 pm, each witnessing more than 30 vehicles per minute.