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Journalism of Courage
At 4 PM on Thursday,a part of Jaswant Singh Road near the Andhra Bhavan caved in. But,significantly,the crater was just 120 metres from another cave-in on the adjacent Ashoka Road on Monday. The two cave-ins,within a short distance of each other,have led to fears that the entire stretch is standing on thin ground and could collapse soon.
Traffic Police personnel at the spot said there could be more leakages in sewage lines below the roundabout. The two cave-ins are just the tip of the iceberg. The ground underneath is partly hollow and we cant say when the entire thing will collapse, said a traffic officer who didnt want to be named as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
The Ashoka Road stretch,which had caved in on Monday,caved in again today creating a small crater. It seems the underground drainage has collapsed, said Joint Commissioner of Traffic Satyendra Garg.
There was a punctured sewage pipe underneath the road that was leaking for months. On Thursday,a part of the road crumbled due to the pent up pressure.
On Thursday,Newsline had reported how roads in Lutyens Delhi maintained by the New Delhi Municipal Council have seen cave-ins due to a goof-up in installing electricity and telephone cables using trench-less technology. While boring into the soil,the machines punctured sewage pipes,leakages from which are now causing the cave-ins.
While NDMC spokesperson Anand Tiwari was unavailable for comments,Mukesh Bhatt,a member,said he will take up the issue in the next meeting he along with other members. I have been with NDMC for years and this is the first time such things are being seen. We will see how it can be sorted out, he said.
