Sewage line burst opens crater on Koyambedu-Tirumangalam road
The crater has reduced the road width by half, and with the remaining part covered with sewage, traffic is crawling on the stretch.
CHENNAI: A rupture in the sewage pipeline occurred in the morning hours on Sunday at Jawaharlal Nehru Salai, near a mall in Tirumangalam. The arterial road cracked around 10 metres in the locality, resulting in stagnation of sewage water, and traffic congestion for a few kilometres in the morning.
Since May, there have been 4 road cave-in incidents in the city due to ruptured sewage pipelines. Another one on Sunday morning escalated tension among regular commuters in the morning hours.
Sewage stagnated for about a kilometre, and there was bumper-to-bumper traffic from Tirumangalam to Koyambedu. Traffic police rushed to the spot where the sewage spilled and set up barricades to regulate traffic. Heavy vehicles heading towards Koyambedu and Maduravoyal were diverted to the 13th Main Road.
M Joseph, a regular commuter and a resident of Korattur, urged, “Since Sunday is a holiday, traffic was slightly less, but officials must act on the issue at the earliest. They should inspect the road to prevent similar ruptures in the future.”
A CMWSSB official told DT Next that the pipeline might have ruptured due to the Metro Rail works or deep sucking by the pumping station. “After receiving information around 8:30 am, workers were deployed to arrest the flow. The rupture happened in the pipeline that carries sewage water from Anna Nagar B pumping station to Koyambedu sewage treatment plant. The replacement of a new 1,000 mm diameter sewage pipeline is underway, and it’s expected to be completed by today,” stated the official.
Meanwhile, Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has clarified that sewerage stagnation on the road was due to damage in the underground sewer pipeline. “The issue is not related to CMRL works. Traffic was diverted by the police, and the CMWSSB team shut down the line and cleared the water,” said an official.
