Chennai: A car plunged into a sinkhole after a small section of Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) caved in near Tidel Park on Thursday morning, triggering a major traffic snarl. The two occupants escaped unhurt. The incident occurred close to an underground metrorail construction site where a tunnel boring machine was in operation.The white SUV was crossing OMR near Thiruvanmiyur MRTS around 10.45am when a portion of the road near the median suddenly caved in, trapping one of its front tyres. A video showed an MTC bus trying to squeeze past the SUV and a Metro rail barricade when the car plunged into the sinkhole and overturned.Praveen, who was behind the wheel, recalled the terrifying moment when his car suddenly began sinking into the crater. “We were coming from Indira Nagar and had stopped at the signal. As soon as we started moving, we felt the car sinking beneath us. We panicked and immediately jumped out. Within minutes, the car overturned and disappeared into the pit. Everything happened so quickly that we barely had time to react,” he said.Officials at the site said all underground utilities in the area had been shifted ahead of the metro work.. They said a rupture in a water pipeline was therefore unlikely to have caused the collapse. However, they said operation of a tunnel boring machine (TBM) or other underground construction could have caused land subsidence.The collapse threw traffic out of gear between Tidel Park signal and Taramani, with vehicles moving at a snail’s pace. To ease congestion, vehicles except two-wheelers coming from CPT, were diverted at Indira Nagar Junction towards Indira Nagar Water Tank Road. Motorists on Indira Nagar Second Avenue were directed to turn right onto Water Tank Road and proceed towards Tidel Park via Thiruvanmiyur junction.“Traffic congestion is already a daily ordeal on this stretch. The sudden appearance of this crater only made matters worse,” said Adyar resident Navneeth.Later, CMRL said the sinkhole was just 30m from the shaft where underground station work was underway. It confirmed that TBM Bhavani was working on a tunnel from Thiruvanmiyur towards Taramani as part of Phase-2 Corridor-3.The car was removed in the afternoon, and CMRL began filling the sinkhole with concrete. “The vehicle has been lifted from the sinkhole. Backfilling of the sinkhole with concrete is currently in progress. Necessary safety and site-protection measures are being undertaken to secure the area and technical enquiry is going,” CMRL said.
