Road caves in as heavy rain lashes Amritsar

Tribune News Service

Charanjit Singh Teja

Amritsar, September 24

A major portion of the road leading to the residence of North MLA Kuwar Vijay Partap caved in due to the digging of an adjoining building opposite Eminent Mall, during the wee hours here today. However, no loss of life was reported in the incident.

The police authorities claimed that seepage of the sewer line and rainwater accumulation in the basement of the building led to the collapse of the road.

The incident took place around 5 am and some morning walkers in the area had a close shave as a considerable portion of the road was damaged.

“There is almost 20-feet long area which is damaged due to rain. The incident occurred at 5 am. Some morning walkers witnessed it and reported it to the police. It is a busy road and luckily no vehicle was moving or parked on the stretch at the time of the incident,” said ASI Jeet Singh, the beat officer in the area. However, a builder at the adjoining building immediately swung into action and got the caved in portion filled with sand using ditch machines.

The Municipal Corporation (MC) authorities visited the spot and started preparing estimates to rebuild the damaged road. The incident at Mall Road raises eyebrows on the digging parametres and check of the civic bodies on such projects. It is not the first time when a road caved in due to digging. A major portion of the Mall Road had caved in twice near the residence of the Municipal Corporation Commissioner in September 2018 and January 2019 due to the digging of a commercial building. A hotel and some houses collapsed due to digging by an under-construction hotel at railway link road in June this year.

MC officials stated that they would check the building plan and approvals and take action as per the law if any violations are found.

Builders violate norms

• Most of the building owners do not leave the required setback (space between two buildings), approved in the building plan. If the building owner leaves the setback as per rules, moderate rain can not cause any damage to a road
• Most of the time, the building owners dig the basement more than the approved level. Generally, MC approves 40-feet digging but the building owners ignore the norms and dig up to 50 feet

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