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3 road cave-ins reported in Lutyens’ Delhi out of 4 across national capital
According to officials, a portion of the pavement in India Gate lawns near Mann Singh Road collapse late Monday evening.
Portion of a pavement were among three cave-ins reported from near India Gate on Tuesday even as the city received little rain over the past 24 hours.
A fourth cave-in was reported in Greater Kailash-2 near Savitri Cinema around 9am.
Read here: 7,500 in Delhi shifted to camps as Yamuna remains in spate amid heavy rainfall
According to officials, a portion of the pavement in India Gate lawns near Mann Singh Road collapse late Monday evening. The stretch was barricaded by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) early on Tuesday.
“An old New Delhi Municipal Council trunk sewer from the British era passes through the area. A depression was noticed on Monday night and the area was barricaded. NDMC is expected to begin repairs by Wednesday,” said a CPWD official asking not to be named.
In the second incident that took place near India Gate, a portion of the road on the C-Hexagon near the Sher Shah Road collapsed on Tuesday morning, leading to traffic congestion.
“A five-feet portion of the Shershah Road caved in on Tuesday morning. We immediately barricaded the stretch and alerted NDMC. The council responded quickly, and the repair work is underway. However, it will take time to reopen the stretch for vehicular movement,” said SS Yadav, special commissioner of police (traffic).
An NDMC official said leakage in an old drain pipe led to erosion of soil, leading to the road cavity. “The repair work has been started but it will take at least two days to complete the job and make the road operational,” the official said, requesting anonymity.
In the third such incident reported from Luyens’ Delhi, a section of the road that connects Harish Chandra Mathur Lane, which connects Kasturba Gandhi Marg with Janpath, caved in on Tuesday. NDMC officials said that the portion of the road settled due to trenches made for laying cables earlier. They said the affection portion has been repaired.
Delhi urban development minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that Public Works Department (PWD) and the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) officials reached Greater Kailash site shortly and the road was repaired in two hours.
A total of seven road cave-ins have now been reported in the national capital in the last eight days. A large portion of the road collapsed on July 5 in Janakpuri, due to leakage in a sewer line laid recently by the Delhi Jal Board. On July 9, a large section of the road in Rohini’s Sector 23 caved in resulting in a 20-foot-wide crater that was filled with water. The same day, traffic was affected on Najafgarh Road from Zakhira towards Moti Nagar after the part of the carriageway caved in due to leakage in a water pipeline near a car showroom.
Read here: Yamuna breaches banks, water enters villages in Karnal, Panipat
The Delhi government, on Tuesday, directed the agencies in the city to carry out a safety audit of drains and pipelines following recent incidents of road cave-ins in the city.
“Over a period of time, these old drains become obsolete since new drains are constructed over them. When there is excessive mud flowing through them in the form of slurry, it leads to displacement. Subsequently, the condition of the road weakens and with heavy vehicles passing over it, the road caves in,” Bharadwaj said.
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