Janakpuri: Road caves in, triggers traffic congestion

A large portion of a road in west Delhi’s Janakpuri has caved in after a sewer line burst, causing traffic congestion in the area, officials said on Wednesday.

According to them, the incident occurred on Tuesday night and the spot has been barricaded to avert any accident.

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

“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. According to police, the department responsible for maintenance work has been informed about the incident.

“The road caved in due to a leakage in a sewer line of the Delhi Jal Board. Two pipelines — a sewer line and a water pipeline — pass through the area. The sewer line has burst which led to the incident,” 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 make the road motorable again. As soon as the DJB gives us a go-ahead, we will repair the road,” the official added. The national Capital recorded 0.2 mm rainfall in 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Wednesday.

As photos and videos of the massive cave-in circulated on social media, the BJP slammed the AAP government in Delhi, reminding it that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had promised to make the roads in the national Capital on par with those in Europe.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva slammed the Arvind Kejriwal government over the incident and said, “The 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.

The condition of Delhi roads is pathetic.”

He also referred to the death of an auto-rickshaw driver at an unguarded construction site of the Public Works Department last week and demanded accountability from Delhi PWD Minister Atishi.

A video of another incident is being circulated on social media, showing a portion of a road caved in and a JCB excavator stuck there. The 36-second-long clip also showed the JCB operator struggling to get out of the pit. It was claimed that the incident took place in southwest Delhi’s Najafgarh area.