DJB sewer line leak leads to road cave in Janakpuri

A large portion of Possangipur road in Janakpuri caved in on Wednesday morning. Nobody was hurt in the incident, but it led to massive snarls on the arterial stretch

A large portion of Possangipur road in west Delhi’s Janakpuri caved in on Wednesday morning, police officers and Public Work Department (PWD) officials aware of the matter said. They said nobody was hurt in the incident, but it led to massive snarls and diversions on the key arterial stretch that connects Najafgarh Road to Lal Sain Marg.

A large portion of road caved in at Janakpuri on Wednesday. Nobody was hurt in the incident. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

According to PWD officials, a leaking Delhi Jal Board sewer pipe led to the cave in, measuring 10 feet in diameter, with a depth of around five feet.

“The DJB has multiple lines passing under this road. This particular stretch has a high-pressure line and a sewerage line. We came to know that there was leakage in the sewerage line that may have been happening for quite some time but remained undetected. The water accumulated at this point over time and led to the cave-in. DJB has informed that their RCC pipelines have eroded due to which the leakage happened, and they have started repair work,” said a PWD official, declining to be named.

HT reached out to DJB which did not respond to queries seeking a comment.

The area witnessed a brief spell of rain on Tuesday, though no waterlogging was reported along this road over the past few days.

Police said the cave-in was reported at around 9am, but nobody was injured as there was no vehicle on the road at the time of the incident.

“Traffic is restricted on both carriageways from Joginder Singh Marg towards Possangipur village and vice versa. We are requesting people to avoid this stretch till it is repaired,” said a traffic police spokesperson, adding that the diversions led to congestion along Pankha Road in Janakpuri.

The PWD official quoted above said the DJB is in the process of repairs, and has identified the exact point where the leak originated. Once that is mended, the official said, the PWD will start work on repairing the portion that has collapsed.

“Because of the water accumulation, the soil in the area has become weak. So, we will have to break some extra portion and fill up the entire area again to ensure strength. Black topping will take some time depending on the monsoon,” said the official.

Commuters who use Possangipur road said the cave in was unexpected, especially after recent repairs on the stretch.

“This is just carelessness on the part of the authorities if a road collapses soon after work is completed. It was just luck that there was nobody passing by, otherwise they would have been seriously injured,” said Jai Kumar, a cab driver who lives in Janakpuri.

Bhanu Pratap, 25, who works at Janakpuri’s district centre, said the road cave-in has obstructed the main access road towards Possangipur, with workers on the ground informing that it may take days to fix the road. “Since this is fairly close to the district centre, people have been coming to see the site of the cave-in,” he said.