MUMBAI, Aug. 22 -- The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to immediately implement safety standards for under-construction, high-rise projects across the state, after taking serious note of recurring accidents at construction sites. The bench of Justice GS Kulkarni and Justice Arif S Doctor was hearing a petition filed by Lokhandwala Residency Towers Cooperative Housing Society, triggered by an accident on February 14, 2023. During the construction of a high-rise project in Worli, by Provenance Land Pvt Ltd, a large cement block had fallen from the 52nd floor, killing two people. The petition stated that it can never be countenanced that innocent lives are lost by objects falling from a suspended crane at an enormous height, which persons on the ground may ordinarily not notice. The court observed that if the right of a person to move freely, in places that are not actual construction sites, are threatened by the fear of being killed or hurt, it would result in violation of their fundamental right to life. It was against such a backdrop that the court observed the need to urgently devise measures to curb such accidents. One of the issues raised was whether there was any mechanism for the inspection, approval or certification of the operation of such cranes or constructions by a recognised specialised agency, which may be appointed by the developers. Following this, the court on August 7 appointed an expert committee to recommend special safety measures for construction work at considerable heights. Included in the ambit were high-rise projects by public bodies for projects such as the metro rail, flyovers and bridges, which could place pedestrians, motorists or the residents of adjoining buildings at risk in the event that an object falls from such a height. While appointing the committee, the court took into account an August 5 accident, where an iron rod from an under-construction metro rail site in Bhiwandi in neighbouring Thane district fell on a moving autorickshaw and pierced a 20-year-old passenger's skull. Senior Counsel for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Narendra Walawalkar, on August 12 submitted a copy of the report of the expert committee, which stated that Mumbai now boasts several high-rises above 100 metres, 181 above 150 m, 47 above 200 m and 24 buildings above 250 m. It was observed that the tallest building at the time of submitting the report was 'Lokhandwala Minerva', which was 301.60 m. It highlighted that another 416 buildings were under construction, all ranging from a minimum 150 m in height to 331 m. The report observed that despite construction technology specific to tall buildings being adopted by the city's construction industry, there was still a violation of safety measures by developers and contractors. It noted that mishaps and accidents occurred due to lack of rules regarding accidents specific to high-rise constructions. The court directed the state urban development department to issue appropriate directives to implement the recommendations of the report by all municipal corporations and other planning authorities undertaking high-rise constructions....