‘Hole of shame’: 8-foot sinkhole on JC Road causes panic

A portion of the busy JC road in central Bengaluru caved in on Thursday, panicking motorists and local residents. The BBMP attributed it to subsurface erosion.

The road’s sudden crumbling left an eight-foot-deep hole in the middle, triggering a traffic snarl in the area. Though engineers are yet to determine the cause, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Chief Engineer (Road Infrastructure) B S Prahlad said it was a case of subsoil erosion.

“The most common reason for caving in of roads is water seepage which causes a reduction in soil volume beneath the surface. In such cases, the road sinks suddenly, leaving a cavity,” he explained.

Refuting allegations that the road was not maintained well, Prahlad said that it was asphalted just a year ago. “It’s in a good condition. Only a small portion has caved in, and we will fix it soon,” he said. Another senior BBMP engineer who inspected the spot told DH that such problems cannot be easily detected.

“This is one of the older roads and, even during regular maintenance, the surface is inspected and asphalted. Such water seepage happens beneath at a depth of at least three to four feet and so they go undetected,” the engineer said.

Though BBMP officials initially assumed leakage of a waterline, BWSSB engineers who inspected the spot ruled it out. Palike officials were left to wonder about the source of seepage.

“We must remove saturated soil at least to a depth of 1.5 metres and refill it with sand, boulders, wet mix and macadam which have good water draining properties,” Prahlad said.

Officials instructed engineers to start the work. “We may require just one day to restore the area,” Prahlad said.

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