Road caves-in at Tarbund in Hyderabad as water pipe breaks, road gets jammed up

Hyderabad witnessed a major cave-in on Tuesday as a portion of the road at Tarbund Crossroads gave in, resulting in a massive traffic jam in the area.

The police said that no injuries were reported as there were no commuters near the crater at the time.

“Water suddenly gushed out of the pipeline to a height of five to six meters. The incident occurred in the early hours when there was not much traffic. However, as the traffic picked up, vehicles piled up on the road," G Mahesh, a resident of the locality told the Times of India.

Officials stated that an underground pipeline leakage may have led to the collapse of the road. 

The Hindu reported that the pipeline was managed by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) and supplied water to Hasmathpet. 

The pipeline may have developed a crack, which leaked water into the soil, which in turn accumulated for a few days and may have led to the cave in, the report adds.

“The damaged pipe is nearly two-and-half-decade-old 300-mm diameter trunk main. The road caved in suddenly due to water leakage from the broken pipeline...Due to the pipeline damage, water supply to nearly 3,000 households at Hasmathpet, HAL Colony , Dubai Gate, Tadbund and adjoining areas will be affected," general manager, (O&M Division-IX-KPHB), HMWSSB, R B Anil Kumar, told ToI.

This is not the first major sinkhole that the city has witnessed this year.

In June this year, a combination of pre-monsoon showers and road construction work resulted in a road cave-in at Azampura colony in Old City. 

In March, a portion of the road on Minister Road caved in, leading to a massive traffic jam.

In December last year, a road cave-in was witnessed at the busy Sarojini Devi Road opposite Kamat Hotel, making it the fourth such incident within the span of a few months.

In November, a part of the Kukatpally main road caved in after leakage of water from an underground pipeline.

In the same month, an important junction at Safilguda caved in, after a contractor failed to reconnected a pipeline properly, after construction work.