MEERUT: A massive 17-meter-long side beam from a construction gantry, used for laying tracks in the under-construction Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor, collapsed and crashed onto a car early on Sunday. A 22-year-old Uttar Pradesh police constable, who was in the car, sustained severe injuries to his shoulder, chest and face.The cop, identified as Amit Upadhyay, hailing from Bulandshahr, was en route to Haridwar after visiting a friend in Meerut.Speaking to TOI, Upadhyay, who is admitted in hospital, said, "The rear of my car was completely crushed under the beam. I recall being trapped in the car for about five minutes, with passersby attempting to remove the windshield before I lost consciousness. Upon regaining consciousness, I found myself in hospital."You may also like to watch: Andhra train accident: Death toll reaches 11 in mishap, rescue operations underwayNotably, a similar incident was reported in July in Meerut, where four masons sustained injuries, two of them critically, when a support slab structure at Shatabdi Nagar station collapsed during slab-making operations. Meanwhile, speaking about Saturdays mishap, Puneet Vats, chief public relations officer (CPRO) for National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC), the body executing the project, said, Our officials are investigating any potential mechanical faults that may have caused this incident. The RRTS corridor, Indias first, is a joint venture between the central government (50%) and the state governments of Haryana (12.5%), NCT Delhi (12.5%), Uttar Pradesh (12.5%), and Rajasthan (12.5%). It is being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 30,270 crore and is set to significantly reduce the commuting time between Delhi and Meerut to around 50 minutes. The corridor will consist of 24 stations, with approximately 70.5 km of its length elevated and 11.5 km underground. The corridor is expected to become fully operational by June 2025. Its first phase, from Sahibabad to Duhai, was inaugurated by PM Modi on October 20.

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