BENGALURU: Experts blamed lack of coordination among agencies that led to a sinkhole in front of Brigade Towers at Vellara Junction on Thursday. The sinkhole was not caused by the Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM), experts said, but instead because of roads not being fixed by various civic agencies like BWSSB, BBMP and Bescom after they were done with their work.
The TBM tunnelling, however, has only exposed the problem that already exists. “Underground infrastructure is neglected. There is absolutely no coordination between civic agencies to ensure better road infrastructure. Roads are not laid with proper foundations and as a result, underground layers are getting washed away due to the leakage of pipes. Even without tunnel work, sinkholes have appeared at other places earlier,” said Ashwin Mahesh, urban expert.
Based on the correlation between weak health and Covid-19, urban expert V Ravichander said, “Metro tunnel work has only exposed the underlying vulnerability. I cannot conclusively say that the sinkhole is only due to BMRCL. This incident may have happened due to water leakage and was exposed after the vibrations.”
He warned that the incident is a cautioned for the future. “If the authorities take any shortcuts for road construction, it will come back to haunt them later in the form of a sinkhole,” stressed Ravichander.
Rainwater expert and civil engineer, S Vishwanath, explained that the city is, by and large, a hard rock terrain, and even if a sinkhole is found, the depth will be shallow. He was also of the opinion that the sinkhole could be due to water pipe leakage. “The water dissolves minerals and soil, and if sinkholes develop at such places, they are around 8 to 10 feet deep.”