The torrential rains which hit Bengaluru on Monday night has resulted in a major road cave-in. Mission Road near Ramanna Garden in the city caved in on Wednesday noon.
“An apartment construction is happening along the stretch here. C2Solus builder was negligent due to which the road cracked. The builder kept building materials on the side of the road. When it rained on Monday night, the water from the construction site could not seep into the ground as construction materials were hindering its flow.and had created a vacuum. When it was removed, the vacuum caused a subduction in the road,” a resident alleged.
Residents alleged that the road had already caved in four times previously. “Two BBMP officials came in when we complained and took stock of the situation but no one has come to rectify the situation,” a resident said.
“In order to stop the vehicular movement on the road, the builders had put up sheets to stop people from entering the road. When the building construction began, a house next to the site collapsed due to the builder’s negligence. W filed a police complaint and also complained to BBMP but nothing was done. At that time, the contractor had troubled us by not even allowing us to stand or walk on the road. He would send us away by saying we would get compensation,” the resident alleged.
Residents say that the situation is extremely dangerous for their children as the road has caved in randomly in the past.
“So many schoolchildren pass by every day on this road. This time 5 ft deep cracks have developed. The road bed is weak and the previous repairs were also mediocre,” the resident said.
Rains have wreaked havoc in other parts of Bengaluru too. A portion of a building collapsed in Bengaluru’s Bharati Nagar. The building, belonging to Mohammad Sadiq, collapsed due to heavy rain on Tuesday. According to Mohammed, he had contacted the BBMP officials but no one responded to his request.
Another potentially risky situation has emerged in Bengaluru’s Ejipura, where a five-storey building has tilted due to the heavy rain.
The building, which is under construction, is located on 14th Cross and is in danger of collapsing.
According to BBMP Chief Engineer Srinivas Reddy, the Palike had not sanctioned the building to house five storeys. “The building’s plan had been sanctioned to construct only ground floor plus one storey. The cement pillars seem to have softened as they have not been cured. The building began to tilt as the pillars were not strong enough,” Reddy added.
“The building started tilting slowly since this (Wednesday) morning. As the people residing in neighbouring buildings noticed the danger, they evacuated the residents from the buildings,” he said.