A minor accident of a motorist helped avert a major disaster in the heart of the city. Bang outside the NTR park on the banks of Hussainsagar, crowds thronged to catch a glimpse of a large crater that expanded with time revealing gushing sewage water underneath. It all began at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, when a biker travelling on the NTR Marg fell off his bike trying to drive over a small section of the road that seemed to have caved in. A police constable, who helped the unhurt rider, noticed the damage to the road due to soil giving way underneath. Very soon, the police barricaded the damaged portion which appeared to increase with time. To make sure that no vehicles pass even in the vicinity, the police closed the entire stretch of road on one side.
As anxious officials visited the spot, the Hyderabad Water Board officials informed that a 25 year old sewage pipeline passed below the road. Though the officials could not confirm if a manhole existed at the exact location, the incessant rains seemed to have caused the road to cave in.
According to the Board officials, the crater was formed as the rain water seeped into the loose soil resulting in the joints between the sewage pipes getting loosened and detached and the soil above the area caved in. This resulted in a 17 foot crater on the road. Managing Director Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewarage Board (HMWSSB) Dana Kishore said that the 5.6 km-long pipeline between Somajiguda and Amberpet Sewage treatment Plant (STP) passed through the area. He said that it would take about a week to complete the repair works. Traffic congestion increased on the stretch as only one side of the road was open for vehicles.
