Road caves in at Delhi’s Vikas Marg

NEW DELHI - A stretch of the road caved in at east Delhi’s Vikas Marg Friday, hitting traffic and leading to snarls in the area, police said.

According to Delhi Police, a portion of the road between Nirman Vihar and Shastri Vihar caved in around 7 a.m. The traffic flow was blocked during the peak hours and commuters, particularly office-goers and school children, found it difficult to travel along the road.

“The road caved in after an underground water pipeline in the area burst. The area has been cordoned off. No one was injured,” a police officer told reporters.

He said the repair work was started immediately and traffic movement regulated.

However, Arun Jaitley, a resident and member of the Nirman Vihar Residents Welfare Association, said: “The water pipeline burst and created a lot of problem in the area. Traffic was disrupted for a brief period. This showcases the poor civic governance of the capital.”

Over two dozen incidents of road cave-ins have occurred in the city in the past one month.

Incessant rains, poor road engineering and maintenance by civic agencies and heavy vehicular traffic due to the Commonwealth Games construction are making Delhi roads crumble, creating huge craters in many places.