CHENNAI: Following potholes and road surface erosions, roads caving in have become the most difficult task for the corporation to tackle as the city has witnessed at least three such cases in the past few months.
While metro rail works and metro water pipelines have been cited as reasons for a few, shoddy roadwork is also blamed for such incidents.
The recent one on Wednesday saw the Perambur Barracks Road caving in, causing a two-hour traffic jam. An 8 ft deep hole opened up after an MTC bus carrying 30 passengers crossed the stretch.
Officials said that a pressurised metro water pipeline was the reason for the road collapsing. “At times, big holes which are poorly closed before laying roads, cause caving of roads in due course of time,” said a road contractor with the Chennai corporation.
“When the hole is not closed properly, the basement of the road loses strength, giving in,” the contractor said. Lakshmi Narayanan, chairman of the standing committee (works) Chennai corporation said that roads near the metro water pumping station are often prone to such collapses.
“The sand near the pumping station is sometimes loose and this is the cause,” he said.
Earlier this year, a gaping hole developed on Anna Salai near the dargah opposite LIC, after the side of the road caved in due to metro rail tunnelling work in July.
A similar incident was reported at Thousand Lights a couple of months ago where no metro rail works are on. The previous year, roads in Egmore and T Nagar also caved.
Corporation contractors are also pulled up for any road damage. “We pull up the contractors and investigate the cause. We also ensure immediate restoration,” said a senior corporation official.
“Contractors are not regulated strictly to maintain the quality of the road,” alleged DMK councilor S.C. Bose.
