Alangayam villagers in fear after sinkhole appears in maize farm

TIRUPATTUR: The sudden appearance of a sinkhole on the maize (cholam) farm of a farmer at a village near Alangayam has instilled fear among locals, while a team of officials from the central government’s Geological Survey of India (GSI) visited the spot and collected samples to find the reason for the hole’s appearance.

Farmer Murugesan of Kooval Kuttai village near Alangayam had a farm near the foothills and on March 20 he went there to water the standing cholam crop. Suddenly he heard a huge sound and amid a cloud of dense dust, a 30 feet-deep and 12 feet-wide sinkhole appeared.

When he peered into the pit he found water gurgling and the sinkhole deepening.

The sound and the sinkhole’s appearance resulted in those working nearby, especially women of the 100 days work scheme, running away screaming. Police cordoned off the sinkhole and stayed on the watch to prevent the public from venturing near the hole.

A three-member team from the TN branch of GSI headed by Hijas Basheer, Director GSI, Asrar Ahmed, and S Jeyapal senior geologists visited the site to conduct geotechnical investigations.

Tirupattur Collector D Baskara Pandian said, “GSI officials stated that another team would visit the area for further investigation in a week.”

Collector also asked local officials to check whether there was a spring nearby or if any other work had been done in the area in the recent past for the cave-in to occur.