Service road near Iffco Chowk caves in after sewer line collapses

A large sinkhole was formed on the service road at Iffco Chowk after a master sewer line collapsed on Tuesday, officials said

A large sinkhole was formed on the service road at Iffco Chowk after a master sewer line collapsed on Tuesday, officials said.

The incident happened around Tuesday afternoon, and the traffic police barricaded the damaged stretch.

According to officials, the road cave-in occurred after a dilapidated sewer line managed by the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) collapsed. The incident comes a day after torrential rains led to waterlogging and traffic congestion across the city.

The incident happened around Tuesday afternoon, and the traffic police barricaded the damaged stretch. A 10-foot by 10-foot sinkhole formed on the Delhi-Jaipur side, officials said, adding that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) also closed traffic on the two service lanes.

GMDA officials said a master sewer line from Ambience Mall to Rajiv Chowk runs along the service road. “The incident happened around 3 pm, after which the damaged portion was barricaded. The repair of the sewage line will be started from Wednesday morning, and all efforts will be made to complete the work at the earliest,” said Bhim Arya, executive engineer, GMDA.

Arya said that the authority will conduct a detailed inspection on Wednesday to find the exact reason for the collapse

Meanwhile, NHAI officials said that water accumulation was observed inside the sinkhole which formed on Tuesday. “Preliminary findings indicate that a GMDA master sewer line is running beneath/along the affected location, and possible leakage or failure of the sewer line may have caused soil erosion and subsequent collapse of the road crust,” stated NHAI in a statement.

Congestion was reported on Tuesday evening after the lanes were closed but vehicles were diverted soon after, said traffic officials.

NHAI officials, meanwhile, said that the commuters can take a parallel service lane to travel towards Manesar and Signature tower crossing and then move towards the Millennium City centre metro station.

An NHAI official said that they have asked the GMDA to immediately rectify the damaged drain, after which the road will be repaired.

“We have instructed GMDA to carry out repair works as soon as possible as the sinkhole is a hazard to nearby structures,” he said.

Earlier in 2021, the same sewage line had collapsed at Iffco Chowk, just 100 metres from this location. During that time, a large portion of the drain under the flyover had collapsed.

NHAI officials at that time said that a large sewer line, which passes under the Iffco chowk flyover was damaged due to ingress of water, that cased subsequent collapse of retaining wall of the flyover.