Chaos after cave-in at Colaba Affected Stretch Blocked, Traffic Diverted Through Cooperage Rd

Mumbai: Within a week of a part of Pedder Road collapsing, a small portion of Madame Cama Road near Regal Cinema caved in on Monday, throwing traffic in the area out of gear throughout the day.      Soon after the incident occurred around 10am, chaos reigned in the locality as a part of the stretch had to be blocked off and vehicles headed for Colaba were diverted through Cooperage Road; the heavy flow of traffic towards Vidhan Bhavan, where the monsoon session is on, was especially affected.      According to roads department officials, the old sewage pipeline under the road was damaged and the leaking utilities led to soil erosion, resulting in the cave-in. The civic body has assured that road will be repaired by Monday night. "Traffic will not be affected on Tuesday as our engineers are already working hard on the stretch and in all likelihood, they will be able to complete the repair work by Monday night," said a senior civic official.      Confirming the incident, assistant municipal commissioner Devidas Khsirsagar said, "A part of the road near Regal Cinema collapsed. It is a very important stretch and we are trying our level best to ensure that the traffic is opened as soon as possible. Roads department engineers, who have started  working on it, have dug up a part of the road to repair it on an urgent basis. The blocked portion may be reopened on Tuesday." The traffic department, however, issued an appeal to motorists, asking them to continue taking the Cooperage Road diversion.      According to the roads department of the BMC, the different parts of the city have witnessed more than 30 incidents of cave-ins. A 4-ft portion of Pedder Road collapsed at Gamadia Junction last Wednesday. The cave-in, said officials, occurred after a slab of an old stormwater drain under the road gave way.  CRATER MUMBAI  4 Jul '12 A part of a road in Santa Cruz (W) leading to Gazdarbandh Nullah caves in  11 Jul '12 A part of Pedder Road near Gamadia Junction gives way  18 Jun '12 Cave in on Santoshi Mata Road in Bhandup  22 May '12 A portion of Old Nagardas Road in Andheri (E) collapses near a municipal school. 5 are injured as an auto overturns in the impact The collapsed stretch near Regal Cinema