Road caves in as sewer line bursts

A portion on the southern stretch of Dr. Krishnasamy Road, near the CS&W Mill, caved in on Friday morning after a main sewer line beneath it burst.

According to sources in the Corporation, the concrete sewer line that carried sewage from R.S. Puram and areas around it to the sewage treatment plant in Ukkadam burst, resulting in the loosening of the earth around the area and the asphalt caving in.

The Corporation had barricaded the damaged portion of the road to undertake repair work, the sources said, adding that it could take the civic body at least a few days as it had to replace the sewer line.

The pipeline that burst was at least 40 years old and was four feet in diameter. The Corporation would dig a stretch of the road to replace the pipeline for 200 feet or so. Until then, the Corporation would have to divert the sewage through an alternative line to the treatment plant and it was that the civic body was working as of Friday, the sources also said.

The Corporation had earlier a year ago replaced a portion of the underground sewer line on the road as it saw the pipelines getting damaged frequently. The portion where the damage occurred on Friday was the one that it did not work on that time, the sources added.