CHENNAI: Even as the Dr Besant Road in Royapettah caved in for the third time over the last two months, Metro Water and Corporation officials are yet to identify the source of the problem and blame each other for the incidents.
The latest incident was reported near the Ice House police station around 7 am on Tuesday. While Metro Water officials said they are identifying the cause for the recent cave-in, they claimed leakage from stormwater drains may have caused the incidents. However, Corporation officials, who maintain the stormwater drains, dismissed the claim.
Being a busy bus route, commuters are finding it difficult to cross the area. “The past two cave-ins were reported on the other end of the road, which is slightly broader. This one is near the junction and will hinder movement of vehicles,” said S Safiullah, who owns a footwear shop near the spot.
During the rains, water must have eroded the soil. There were cracks on the manhole and stormwater drain is also damaged. We are checking if there are any leaks in the metro water pipeline, but there were no damages to it during the previous cave-ins. We have filled them with debris and the Corporation has to lay the road, said R Anbu, Deputy Area Engineer, Metro Water. However, Corporation officials said all three cave-ins were caused due to damage in the water pipeline and they are waiting for Metro Water to do their work.