6ft-wide stretch of Peddar Road caves in

Hundreds of motorists were put out on Monday when a 6ft-wide portion of the Peddar Road opposite Jaslok Hospital gave way in the morning.

Officials from the storm water drains (SWD) department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said the road cave-in at around 11am led to a traffic bottleneck that lasted the whole day. They blamed it on the collapse of a part of century-old dhapa (box) drains there.      

Soon after the cave-in, the traffic police broke the road divider to divert vehicles to Carmichael Road, said SR Nilewad, deputy commissioner of police (traffic).

“The dhapa drains lie right beneath the centre of the Peddar Road. But it is difficult for us to dig up the road and repair it as the road needs to be shut completely, which is impossible,” said Laxman Vatkar, chief engineer of the SWD department, adding that there are no alternative routes through which traffic can be diverted so as to shut this road.

The Peddar Road is the only route connecting the island city to the suburbs.

Civic officials ruled out going ahead with drain repair works any time soon as the Peddar Road flyover may take years even to take off.  

Additional municipal commissioner Aseem Gupta said, “To change the drains, the road needs to be shut for five to six months. If we get the permission for it, then we can go ahead with the work.”

Residents said they have had enough with frequent cave-ins on the road and demanded a permanent solution the problem. This stretch of Peddar Road has a history of cave-ins, with the most recent one on July 11, when a 2ft-wide and 2ft-deep portion of the road caved in near the Gamadia junction.