Underground drainage chamber on Sathyamangalam Road caves in

August 19, 2013 12:00 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 08:52 pm IST - COIMBATORE:

The newly constructed underground drainage chamber that caved in on Sathyamangalam Road in the city, on Sunday. Photo: S.Siva Saravanan

The newly constructed underground drainage chamber that caved in on Sathyamangalam Road in the city, on Sunday. Photo: S.Siva Saravanan

On the Sathyamangalam Road, a little away from the Omni Bus Stand, are a few barricades that encircle a cavity. The road there has caved in, exposing the underground drainage structure there.

It happened a day or two ago because the underground drainage chamber had caved in, exposing the concrete structure beneath the surface. The cavity is about two feet long and nearly a foot wide.

Sources say that the contractor executing the project on behalf of the Coimbatore Corporation is at fault. The construction is poor. There can be no other reason for the road caving in at the spot on the National Highways 209.

If this is the condition of the chamber before it is put to use, what could be the strength when sewage starts flowing through it, the sources ask.

The work forms part of the Package I of the Coimbatore Corporation’s underground drainage work. The contractor completed the work sometime in April this year.

North Zone Chairman P. Rajkumar says that the Corporation should take it seriously and address the issue by recruiting more engineers to supervise the construction. For, lack of supervision alone has led to such faulty construction.

Superintending Engineer in-charge P. Ganeshwaran denies that the caving in is on account of the poor chamber construction. The issue has nothing to do with the underground drainage system on the road. The National Highways has not done a good job by laying the road at places where the underground drainage work was completed, though the Corporation has paid for the same. Corporation Commissioner G. Latha says that she will inspect the site and take appropriate action if the fault is on the part of the contractor. The Corporation a few months ago slapped Rs. 1.50 lakh in fine on an underground drainage contractor for shoddy work and not levelling the work after completion.

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