Repairs begin on Sohna Road sinkhole in Gurugram

The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has decided to strengthen the sewage pipeline under the main carriageway of Sohna Road near Subash Chowk at a cost of ₹10 crore to resolve the issue of repeated road cave-ins. GMDA officials said that the 850 metre sewage pipeline passes under the main carriageway of Sohna highway from Subash Chowk to Tikri village.

The pipeline is 20 feet deep and 2,000mm wide and it will be strengthened through CIPP technology. The authority said that their teams are working on repairing the sinkhole that was caused due to the collapse of the pipeline on Tuesday.

On Tuesday afternoon, the two-decade-old sewage pipeline collapsed, resulting in a 20-feet sinkhole. NHAI and Gurugram traffic police barricaded one of the lanes of the main carriageway from Gurugram to Sohna after a school bus got stuck in the sinkhole. This is the second time the Sohna highway witnessed a road collapse, as last year in December, another sink hole was caused at the same location, just 40 feet away, which had damaged the road.

Rajesh Bansal, chief engineer, GMDA, said that their teams started repair work and the area around the sinkhole is being dug to check the extent of damage to the sewage line. “We are dewatering the sewage line and the damaged portion will be repaired on priority. To prevent similar incidents in future, it has been decided that the entire 850 metre sewage line will be strengthen using the CIPP method,” he said.

Bansal said that this pipeline takes water from residential areas. “These are master sewage lines and have large capacity. Once the pipeline stretch under Sohna road is strengthened the problem of cave-ins will be resolved,” he said, adding that the pipeline crosses the Sohna road towards Tikri village and thereafter goes towards the Behrampur sewage treatment plant.

On December 24, 2023, the sewage pipeline had collapsed near the same location opposite Adarsh SD Vidyalaya, due to which the Sohna highway had got damaged and two lanes remained closed for several weeks.