CHENNAI: A major portion of the busy Grand Northern Trunk (GNT) Road at Puzhal caved in around 2 am on Monday following a pipeline burst, leaving behind a crater measuring six metres in length, three metres in width and two metres in depth. The cave-in caused severe traffic congestion during peak hours.
The damaged drinking water pipeline, which is 1,200 mm in diameter, carries water from the 300 MLD Puzhal water treatment plant to northern parts of Chennai. Since repair work is expected to take two days, Metro Water has announced that drinking water supply to Tondiarpet and parts of Manali, Madhavaram and Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar will remain suspended until 10 pm on Wednesday.
Metro Water personnel barricaded the stretch and began repair work soon after the cave-in was reported on GNT Road, which forms part of the busy Kolkata National Highway. The pipeline was laid around 35 years ago, when the National Highway was only two lanes wide. The road has since been widened to four lanes, besides the addition of service lanes, increasing the load over the ageing pipeline, an official told the TNIE.
“A work order has been issued to replace the pipeline as part of the Ring Main System (RMS) project, but it will take two years to complete,” the official said. He added that this was the first cave-in caused by this particular pipeline in the last five years. Officials will first assess the extent of the damage before replacing the affected section with a new pipeline of the same length.
In a statement, Metro Water said all areas in Tondiarpet zone will be affected.
In Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar, the disruption will cover areas opposite Perambur Railway Station in Ward 71 and Kannika Puram in Ward 72. In Madhavaram zone, Wards 25, 26, 28 and 29 and parts of Ward 30, covering Madhavaram, Ponniammanmedu and Vinayakapuram, will be affected. Bank Colony in Ward 27 and parts of Kathirvedu in Ward 31 will also face disruption. In Manali zone, the affected localities in Ward 17 include North Perumbakkam, Theeyambakkam, Kosapur, Chettimedu, Ariyalur and Thyagi Viswanath Das Nagar.
Metro Water said tanker lorries would be deployed to supply water to the affected areas. Residents requiring emergency supply can book tankers through the ‘Dial for Water’ facility on the agency’s official website. Tanker supply to water tanks and street taps in areas without drinking water connections or facing low pressure will continue without disruption, Metro Water added.
The latest incident comes about three months after a similar cave-in occurred on the opposite side of the road following damage to another 35-year-old pipeline that supplies water to Central Chennai. Officials said the two ageing pipelines are proposed to be replaced by a single new pipeline under the RMS project.