Ghaziabad: A stretch in Indirapuram’s Gyan Khand 2 caved in on Wednesday night. Just 50 m away from Indirapuram Public School, the stretch has now been cordoned off with a bamboo stick and caution tape. However, the ‘safety measure’ has left room for an unsuspecting driver to dive right into the crater at night. Cyclists were seen lifting their bicycles and braving the stretch.In a report published on July 9, TOI had highlighted the same stretch. During a visit to Gyan Khand, the reporter had found the same stretch submerged under puddles and thick slush had covered the entire area. Cars were being driven through the mud. Spells of rain and the ongoing revamp of the roads and drainage lines under the CM-GRID projects had left the area inundated with stagnant water.The road had since been repaved with cement, but in less than two months, the stretch caved in.
The same spot on July 9
Beside the stretch where the cave-in occurred, there are some makeshift huts. A construction labourer who stays in one of those huts, Meenal, said, “The ground had been sinking over the past few days and Wednesday night the cracks on the top layer widened before sinking in. We heard a loud thud too.”“The stretch was uneven as a water pipeline passes beneath it. Every time a vehicle reached this point, drivers had to slow down because of the uneven surface. For a long time, water had been seeping from the pipeline, leaving the stretch waterlogged — irrespective of whether it had rained. This had loosened the soil beneath the road, and eventually, it caved in,” said Meenal.Fortunately, no accident was reported. “Had the road caved in while a vehicle was passing over it, the vehicle could have gone into the crater,” she added.A GMC employee visited the spot on Thursday afternoon and assessed the damage. He placed a bamboo barricade and danger ribbon around the cave-in. Asked how long the repair would take, the employee said, “We will assess it.”A Gyan Khand resident, Asha Khosa, said the cave-in will now add to the area’s traffic problems. “I will either take Canal Road to NH-9 or make an early cut towards CISF Road to reach NH-9,” she said.A GMC official said the area’s civic infrastructure is undergoing an overhaul, including its roads, drainage and water supply systems. “This kind of work cannot be done overnight. It will take time. These are just teething problems, and once the work is completed, these issues will cease to exist,” he added. The official said the caved-in stretch would be repaired soon. “It seems the soil beneath gave way due to rain and could not bear the traffic load. Cave-ins are common during the rainy season,” he said.
