Chennai: A sinkhole that is growing by the day on Anna Main Road at Chinna Porur has disrupted life for more than 300 families at BBC City Park Apartments and Lakshmi Nagar and with no immediate solution in sight. Residents said the sinkhole first appeared on Wednesday in the middle of the road and was around five feet across. But each day more soil caved in and its diameter kept expanding. By Thursday, it measured 15 feet across. As a result, people in the apartments haven’t been able to take their vehicles out.
The situation is dire, especially in an emergency. “On Thursday my mother fell down the stairs. The ambulance could not come to our home and we had to struggle to carry her outside to get her to hospital,” said Gayathri S, a resident of Lakshmi Nagar.
Residents are furious with Metrowater and Greater Chennai Corporation, accusing them of indifference to their woes. “Even after several complaints, no action has been taken. The pit is growing as sand keeps collapsing, and clogged stormwater drains worsen waterlogging during the monsoons,” said Radha Krishnan R, a resident of BBC City Park Apartments.
Zone 11 assistant engineer Kannumani of Metrowater said soil erosion had damaged the stormwater drain’s bottom slab, which collapsed resulting in the sinkhole. “We will fix the pipes in a couple of days, but the corporation needs to repair the stormwater drain and re-lay the road,” she said.
Zone 11 chairperson V. Rajan assured residents that the corporation is working on resolving the issue. “The roads will be re-laid at the earliest. We take full responsibility for solving this problem,” he said. Efforts to contact Ward 151 Councillor S. Shankar Ganesh were unsuccessful.
This is not the first such issue in the area; a similar incident occurred on the nearby Govt Hospital street in Chinna Porur.
