GURGAON: A massive section of the service road on the Delhi-Jaipur highway near IFFCO Chowk caved in on Tuesday afternoon, prompting authorities to shut the stretch to traffic after a crater nearly 10ft wide and 15ft deep opened up.The cave-in occurred around 3pm on the service road carrying traffic from Delhi towards Jaipur.Traffic police initially cordoned off the affected portion and alerted the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA).GMDA executive engineer Bhim Arya reached the spot and got the damaged portion barricaded.According to Arya, a major sewer line of GMDA runs beneath the service road and its damage caused the road to sink.“The sewer line running beneath the service road was damaged, leading to the cave-in. The affected portion has been barricaded and work to repair it will begin on Wednesday,” Arya said.Repair work was expected to start on Tuesday evening, but rain forced the authorities to defer it to Wednesday.The closure is likely to inconvenience buses travelling towards Rewari and Rajasthan, which routinely stop on the service road to pick up passengers.However, commuters can use the other two-lane service road ahead to access the Delhi-Jaipur highway.Vehicles headed towards Sector 29 and South City-1 will have to use the alternate service road and take the exit near the foot overbridge (FOB), officials said.
Rain chaos, WFH advisory and stranded school buses
The disruption on Monday was severe enough for the District Disaster Management Authority, Gurgaon, to advise corporate offices and government and private schools and institutions to guide employees and staff to work from home on August 25.The advisory cited the possibility of waterlogging and traffic congestion and said it would also allow civic agencies to carry out road and drain repair works smoothly.The rain also left school buses and vans stranded for hours.Several children were reportedly stuck in school transport from around 12.30pm, with one bus remaining stranded at the same spot for more than two hours.Parents reported that some buses had broken down amid the waterlogging, while rising water levels and submerged vehicles added to their anxiety.Subhash Chowk was among the worst-affected stretches, while Golf Course Road, Sohna Road, South City-1, DLF Phase 3, Ardee City, Sector 45, Sector 52A and MG Road also reported waterlogging.
Two trucks get stuck amid rain
Meanwhile, two trucks remained stuck at separate locations in Gurgaon on Tuesday, adding to traffic woes amid rain.Near Sector 9 market, a cement-laden heavy truck got its front portion stuck in a pit dug for a manhole as a new sewer pipeline was being laid. The truck subsequently tilted after its front wheels went into the excavation.The pit, according to officials, was not adequately barricaded.Another heavy truck got stuck on the service road near Narsinghpur village on the Delhi-Jaipur highway while travelling from Jaipur towards Delhi.The incident occurred after a slab covering a stormwater drain was damaged, leaving a portion of the road unsafe for heavy vehicles.The trucks could not be removed till late Tuesday evening, officials said.
Not the first road cave-in
The latest sinkhole is not an isolated incident for Gurgaon.The city has seen repeated road and drain collapses during periods of heavy rain, with several incidents raising questions over the condition of infrastructure beneath its roads.Earlier this month, a section of the slab over the Leg-1 master stormwater drain collapsed near Rotary Public School on Sushil Aima Marg after heavy rainfall.The collapse spanned around 25 feet, brought down part of the drain’s retaining wall and caused soil erosion beneath the adjoining service road, triggering a cave-in along its edge. No injuries were reported.The drain, constructed more than three decades ago using brick masonry, has weakened over the years due to continuous sewage flow and prolonged exposure to corrosive gases.A 10-15ft-deep cave-in outside Tau Devi Lal Park in Sector 23A was also reported in September 2023 after the drain weakened.
NH-48 cave-in stranded thousands
In July, around 82 mm of rain in two hours triggered another major cave-in on the Delhi-Jaipur highway near Narsinghpur.A section of NH-48 caved in where GMDA was carrying out pipe culvert pushing work, forcing the closure of two lanes.The collapse led to traffic snarls stretching 8-10 km from IFFCO Chowk to Kherki Daula toll plaza, leaving thousands of commuters stranded.Another cave-in was reported on Civil Lines Road, where the tyres of two parked vehicles got stuck after the road gave way.The incident also highlighted the vulnerability of stretches where roads had recently been excavated for utility work, with heavy rain further destabilising the surface.
Sohna Highway has seen repeated sinkholes
The problem has also persisted on the Sohna Highway.In May, a portion of the highway caved in for the sixth time since 2023, forming a pit around 10 feet wide and 20 feet deep. The affected stretch was barricaded by NHAI.Recurring cave-ins on the stretch had been linked to a damaged 1,800mm master sewer line running beneath the highway.Multiple sinkholes had emerged along the corridor since December 2023, including a 12-foot-deep pit near Sispal Vihar and another cave-in on June 30 last year.