Gurugram: Sohna Road caves in at same spot for third time in a year

The recurring sinkholes are due to a 30-year-old sewage pipeline below the road that has developed cracks, GMDA officials said

A small portion of Sohna Elevated Road in front of SD Adarsh Vidyalya in Gurugram Sector 47 has caved in for the third time in a year prompting Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) officials to barricade and dig up the area for repairs.

The cave-in on Sohna Elevated Road on Sunday. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The recurring sinkholes are due to a 30-year-old sewage pipeline below the road that has developed cracks, GMDA officials said. The same spot had previously caved in on July 2, and before that on December 24. After the cave-ins, officials had put temporary fixes on the pipelines and laid bitumen on the road to make it operational. But a permanent solution will be implemented only after the Haryana assembly elections since a tender for the project cannot be floated until the model code of conduct is in effect, said an official.

“The sewage line will be repaired using the cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) technology and a tender in the matter will be issued after the elections are over. For the time being the sewer is being dug and it will be repaired by strengthening the pipeline to ensure that the road can be made functional,” said Rajesh Bansal, chief engineer of GMDA.

According to GMDA officials, the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) had decided to shift the sewage pipeline and submitted a service estimate of ₹27 crore to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the same. GMDA officials said that the pipeline should have been shifted by NHAI at the time it was constructing the Sohna Road.

When asked about the matter, Yogesh Tilak, project director, NHAI, said that their maintenance team first observed the leakage and cave-in on Wednesday and immediately informed GMDA. “We will make the road operational after GMDA repairs the pipeline. It is likely that once the sewage line is properly repaired using CIPP, the problem will be resolved permanently,” he said.