Biker badly injured after massive sinkhole emerges on Bengaluru road

Ashok Nagar traffic station officials said the incident occurred at around 12.15 pm, opposite Brigade Towers at Shanthala Nagar in Bengaluru, after which the biker was taken to the private hospital at Richmond Town for treatment. They said that he would be discharged soon after treatment.

A motorcyclist was injured on Thursday after a three-metre-deep sinkhole appeared on Brigade Road in Bengaluru, where metro work is underway, traffic officials said.

A motorcyclist was injured after sinkhole appeared on Brigade Road in Bengaluru, where metro work is underway, officials said. (HT Photo)

The man was riding his bike when a portion of the road caved in.

As per the reports, the biker was identified as Puneet and had sustained minor injuries.

Ashok Nagar traffic station officials said the incident occurred at around 12.15 pm, opposite Brigade Towers at Shanthala Nagar in Bengaluru, after which the biker was taken to the private hospital at Richmond Town for treatment. They said that he would be discharged soon after treatment.

While a 2.7-km metro line is being constructed under Brigade Road, it remained unclear what exactly caused the sinkhole.

Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) officials said that the metro work in the area where the sinkhole appeared was completed four days ago.

“Around 30 metres ahead of where the sinkhole has appeared, our work was already completed four days ago. The sudden appearance of the sinkhole has surprised us also. The area wherever the sinkhole has appeared, we have tunnelled completely in the rock. It is not loose soil also. So, everybody is surprised at how it occurred,” said Yashvanth Chavan, spokesperson of BMRCL.

The 2.7 km underground metro line is being constructed from Vellara Junction) to Shivajinagar as part of the 21.3 km corridor between Kalena Agrahara on Bannerghatta Road in southwestern Bengaluru to Nagawara, the city’s longest underground tunnel at 13.8 km.

“We have to investigate, and the detailing will be done later. However, our job was to first put the cement concrete in it. We have already done it. Wherever the tunnel has gone, it is completely a rock area. Four days after the machine moved, the sinkhole appeared. It is a surprise,” he added.

A senior traffic police officer said the initial inspection suggested that leakage in an underground pipeline could have resulted in the sinkhole.

He added that after experts inspect the spot, the sinkhole will be filled and until then, traffic will be diverted from the part where the cavity has appeared.

Reacting to the incident, civic activist Sandeep Anirudhan said: “Every public project should have a public display board with details of the contract, engineer’s name, contractor’s name, date of construction, warranty period, maintenance period, and penalty clauses. Accountability and transparency in contracts are what will fix this menace of poor delivery.”

The incident comes two days after a woman and a toddler were killed as an under-construction metro pillar collapsed on a motorcycle along the Outer Ring Road in HBR Layout in the city.

A case was registered against Nagarjuna Construction Company (NCC), five of its officials and two of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL).