Hyderabad witnessed yet another sinkhole on its roads, this time at the Shapur-Jeedimetla highway, where a section of the road caved in on Friday.
Officials suspect that water leakage from an underground pipeline may have led to the incident.
While it was a busy stretch, no one was injured in the cave in. The Hyderabad Traffic Police immediately rushed to the spot and put up barricades to ensure that no one ventures too close to the hole.
However, as a result, the stretch witnessed a severe traffic jam for a few hours.
According to media reports, officials of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) began restoration work and are expected to complete it soon.
Many blamed the substandard quality of work by contractors as the road was reportedly recently laid by Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd (MEIL).
“The road caved in as the drinking pipeline was damaged which led to a continuous flow of water below the surface. The engineering department officials are working to close caved road,” K Bhaskar, deputy general manager of HMWSSB, told TNIE.
This is the second such incident after a portion of the road caved in at Bapuji Nagar, in Bowenpally earlier this month.
The incident took place at a busy stretch, as the road leads to Diamond Point and Trimulgherry, which threw traffic out of gear for a few hours.
No one was injured as the road sank, as the police cordoned off a portion of the road.
According to reports, at least two drinking-water carrying pipelines and one sewage line were running under the road, which comes under the purview of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) and not the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).
SCB officials later told the media that a sewer trunk pipeline had leaked as it was old, which led to slow loosening of the soil under the road and eventually the collapse.