'Cracks in Siddharth college old, not due to Metro work', Metro rail officials

A day after mid-day reported about Siddharth college's concerns regarding the Metro III work in the vicinity, a team from the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) said it was willing to have a discussion with the institute authorities to clear their apprehensions. A meeting is scheduled between the principal and an MMRCL official today.

Cracks in Siddharth college building

The Churchgate college had started a signature campaign against the underground work, raising safety concerns and saying that it had damaged its building, a heritage structure. MMRCL issued a statement yesterday, clarifying that it had already done a thorough inspection of the building and placed monitoring instruments to get safety warnings, if any.

Also read: Mumbai: Siddharth college starts signature campaign against Metro III work

MMRCL responds
In the statement, MMRCL MD Ashwini Bhide added, "On the structural instability of the college building, we would also like to highlight the fact that the vibrations caused during piling work are being continuously measured, and it has been observed, they are less than one-fourth of the permissible limit allowed for heritage or weak buildings. Regarding the photographs of cracks in the basement, we would like to clarify that these cracks are old… not because of the piling work... Also, as a precautionary measure we had installed a crack metre… which showed that none of the cracks have widened," the statement added.

"The remaining piling work in the area will be completed in the next 3-4 months. However, considering the apprehension of the college authorities, our contractors have been instructed to coordinate with them so that these aspects can be addressed," Bhide was quoted.

Also read: Mumbai: As Metro Phase 3 work begins, Flora Fountain is feeling the tremors

Hopes on the meeting
Principal Dr U N Mhaske said, "They had submitted the report, but to our law college, which hardly occupies two floors and has a nominal number of students and staff. I was able to read that report by the structural engineer today; it clearly states that the building's condition is not satisfactory. We are hopeful that the meeting will bring out some workable solution, because even day-to-day activity is becoming difficult, besides safety concerns."