Massive road cave-in in Janakpuri leads to traffic jams, political jabs

New Delhi: A large portion of a road in west Delhi's Janakpuri caved in due to leakage of a sewer line, officials said on Wednesday.

They said the incident occurred Tuesday night and the spot has been barricaded to avert any mishap.

Visuals of the massive cave-in circulated on social media. The national capital recorded 0.2 mm rainfall in a 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am on Wednesday.

According to police, the department responsible for the maintenance has been informed so that repairs can be undertaken.

The traffic police posted about the matter on Twitter to inform about the incident.

"Road has caved-in near Possangipur park due to which traffic is restricted in both the carriageways from Joginder Singh Marg towards Possangipur Village and vice-versa. Kindly avoid the stretch," it tweeted.

Traffic Alert
Road has caved-in near Possangipur park due to which traffic is restricted in both the carriageways from Joginder Singh Marg towards Possangipur Village and vice-versa. Kindly avoid the stretch.

यातायात सुझाव
पोसांगीपुर पार्क के पास सड़क धंस गई है, जिसके कारण… pic.twitter.com/7e2TQbTjOO

— Delhi Traffic Police (@dtptraffic) July 5, 2023

The traffic police department said it has received information about congestion from Pankha Road in Janakpuri and on the road coming from Mangolpuri towards Janakpuri.

"The road caved in due to the leakage of a sewer line of the Delhi Jal Board. Two pipelines pass through the area -- a sewer line and a water pipeline. The sewer line burst which led to the road cave-in," A senior PWD official said.

"The DJB has been informed and they are working to repair the sewer line. Once they repair it, we will fill the road and make it motorable once again. We have our manpower ready and as soon as DJB gives us a go-ahead, we will repair the road," it added.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva slammed the Arvind Kejriwal government for the caving-in.

"People of Delhi are surprised... that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal boasts of making Delhi roads like European roads and here we witness road caving, craters and potholes on Delhi roads. The condition of Delhi roads as we enter from any border of Delhi is pathetic," the politician said.

Sachdeva also mentioned the death of an autorickshaw driver last week at an unguarded construction site of PWD to home in his point and demanded accountability from PWD Minister Atishi of the Aam Aadmi Party.