11-m deep, 6-m wide crater in Vikas Nagar

Third road cave-in reported in the area this year; officials blame fresh incident on erosion

- HT Correspondent

LUCKNOW: A crater appearing on a stretch in Vikas Nagar of the state capital early Monday yet again exposed the fragile state of civic infrastructure in the area. The road cave-in, which took place on the main road connecting Sectors 5 and 6, left a crater measuring 11 metres deep, eight metres long and six metres wide. This was the third such incident reported in Vikas Nagar this year.

The road collapsed around 3:29 am, and the incident was captured on CCTV footage from a nearby house. The video shows a heavy truck passing over the spot seconds before the collapse. The truck's rear tyres jolted as the land beneath it sunk, but the vehicle narrowly escaped.

According to a police note, it was the personnel from the Vikas Nagar station who spotted the sunken road.

Municipal officials stated that erosion due to faulty underground sewer lines had caused the incident. Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) quickly barricaded the section and diverted traffic.

Municipal commissioner Inderjit Singh stated that the incident occurred on a road under the jurisdiction of the public works department (PWD), but attributed the collapse to poorly constructed sewer lines by Jal Nigam.