CHENNAI: A 24-year-old youth died after the two-wheeler he was riding fell into a 15-foot-deep pit dug for cut-and-cover drain construction along the Chennai Bypass service road near Nolambur on Wednesday night. The police said the biker, who was not wearing a helmet, entered the road closed for construction work and sustained fatal head injuries during the fall.
The deceased has been identified as R Hari Prasanth, a resident of ICF Colony in Athipattu, working in a private tiles factory. According to the Anna Nagar Traffic Investigation Wing police, the youth was riding towards Nolambur around 10.30 pm, and he entered the stretch closed for traffic and fell through the barricades into the pit along with his motorcycle. Sources said he suffered severe internal injuries on his forehead and head.
The residents came to know about the accident only after an hour. The death was confirmed by the 108 ambulance personnel who reached the spot later. The body was sent to Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital for postmortem.
The police suspect Prasanth may have been under the influence of alcohol but said this could be confirmed only after the postmortem report.
Following a complaint from his father, Radhakrishnan (58), the police registered a case under Sections 281 (rash driving) and 106 (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and are investigating.
An official of the Water Resources Department (WRD) said about two-and-a-half kilometres of the Maduravoyal Bypass Service Road, where the cut-and-cover canal work is under way had been barricaded and closed for traffic for the past month. The accident spot lies in the middle of the stretch which also has the ‘road closed’ and ‘danger’ signboards put up, he said.
The official alleged a group of youngsters, including Prasanth, had trespassed past the barricades by shifting them and were believed to have used the precast blocks to consume alcohol. He said he could have fallen into the pit while returning home.
The 5,000-metre-long canal, taken up by the WRD on December 8, 2025, is meant to divert surplus water from Ambattur lake to the Cooum river and prevent flooding. The official said the work would be completed this month.