CONDEMN THE FASCIST MAHAYUTI GOVERNMENT FOR YET ANOTHER HORRIFIC, CRIMINAL, IRRESPONSIBLE DEATH!

On Saturday, 14 February, a portion of the parapet of an under-construction metro bridge collapsed onto passing vehicles in Mulund, killing one person and injuring several others. This incident is yet another glaring example of the horrific and criminal irresponsibility of the Mahayuti government, which has been relentlessly harping on about this “developmental” project, one that is carried out with complete disregard for human life.

This is hardly the first such incident at a Mumbai Metro construction site. In November 2025, a project supervisor lost his life after falling from a platform at the Mumbai Metro Line 9 site. In another incident, a 20-year-old was grievously injured when a 20-mm iron rod pierced his head near the Mumbai Metro Line 5 construction area. Multiple construction workers have lost their lives over the years while working under hazardous conditions at these sites. A recent news report says that school students and pedestrians in the Kanjurmarg and Vikhroli area have long suffered due to severe congestion caused by the convergence of multiple metro lines and poorly planned construction activity. This is not an isolated experience limited to one locality; it is a pattern repeated across the city. It is abundantly clear that none of these incidents affect the current government in any way, as it continues to pursue anti-people and anti-worker policies with impunity.

The metros that are operational, too, suffer from frequent service disruptions due to technical glitches and mismanagement, severely affecting the daily lives of commuters. Connectivity between different lines remains inadequate. Along with higher fares, this has resulted in the number of metro commuters remaining far lower than that of local trains and public buses, which continue to bear the real burden of mass commuting.

It goes without saying that workers employed at the metro construction sites are forced to endure extremely long working hours in unsafe conditions for meagre wages. Little can be expected from the Mahayuti government. After all, the fascist BJP has, in one sweeping move, repealed hard-earned labour laws and replaced them with blatantly anti-worker labour codes, stripping workers of even minimal safeguards.

The Mumbai Metro and other projects being undertaken in the Greater Mumbai area are supervised by the MMRDA, which, only a few days ago, presented its “surplus” budget of ₹48,072.40 crore. This is a staggering 53.52% increase over the revised estimate of ₹31,313.13 crore for the previous year. Fadnavis hailed the budget as a “defining institutional milestone.” But “milestone” for whom? “Defining” for whom?

It’s no surprise that spending by the MMRDA is heavily inclined toward capital-intensive urban infrastructure that serves the rich. Metros account for ₹13,838.88 crore, Atal Setu and the Thane Coastal Road along with other major roads and elevated corridors get ₹12,816.53 crore, underground tunnels ₹5,543.51 crore, and growth hubs and business parks account for ₹4,600 crore. Together, these account for roughly 60% of the total spending, largely catering to the elite and to real-estate interests. In contrast, allocations that directly serve the common masses are close to none. Even this so-called “world-class infrastructure” has already witnessed damage, repeated repair work, and media attention for all the wrong reasons.

The fascist government must also be interrogated about the allocation of these funds. This budget is quite literally made up of the hard-earned money of the common working masses. Yet, beyond presentation and headlines, there is little evidence of genuine progress in the infrastructure and the lives of citizens. One gets to see newly constructed four-lane flyovers abruptly narrowing to two lanes, potholes on every other road in the city, slums and the surrounding areas remain heavily underdeveloped, and the city virtually collapsing every monsoon.

It is clear that all so-called developmental projects are undertaken by the Fadnavis-Shinde government only to sell tenders and serve the interests of private contractors and capital rather than making the lives of ordinary people safer or easier. After all, their loyalty lies with those who fund them and not with the working masses. Since 2014, Ambani’s net worth has more than doubled. Adani’s rise has been even better. Meanwhile, public housing, healthcare, education, employment are in shambles. Thousands of trees and forested areas have been cleared in the name of development, and tens of thousands of crores of public money have been spent. Yet accidents and deaths continue to occur with alarming regularity.

Further, public buses such as the BEST are increasingly being privatized. The Mumbai locals are in a state of crisis. This is reinforced by the unjust division between first- and second-class travel and the growing focus on AC local trains, which are funded with public money but are clearly unaffordable for the common masses. Accidents on locals and buses are repeatedly blamed on so-called overpopulation, but this argument is both lazy and dishonest: under capitalism, it is structurally impossible for working people to live close to their workplaces, and no one migrates by choice or enjoys being separated from their families. People are forced to travel long distances every day because jobs, housing and basic services are planned for profit, not for human safety or dignity. It is therefore not population pressure that causes these accidents, but the capitalist system itself and the bourgeois parties that defend it, by underfunding public transport, ignoring safety, and prioritising elite projects over the lives of ordinary commuters.

In order to protect themselves from being exposed, the fascist government continues to create a false enemy to incite communal riots. It’s not enough that their sheer irresponsibility causes daily loss of life; they actively add to it by unleashing lynch mobs and stoking riots. The propaganda police have seeped into everything: the streets, our phones, and tv screens.

The only thing that can effectively fight these fascist forces is the power of the masses. We must continue to struggle, develop, and organize a mass movement that will fight the dirty politics of the fascists head-on. We must create a political consciousness that will hold them accountable on every single count.

RWPI unequivocally condemns the criminal incident in Mulund and demands that the state government be held fully accountable on all counts. The Chief Minister must immediately resign and claim responsibility. We further demand a comprehensive, independent audit of all MMRDA projects, with the findings made public. Spending by the BMC and the MUTP, too, must be oriented towards Mumbai local trains and BEST buses, on which ordinary people depend every day. Privatisation of fundamental public services must be entirely stopped. Ecologically and otherwise destructive projects such as the coastal road and similar infrastructure must be given up and the common masses must be placed at the centre of all public expenditure.