MADURAI

Half the portion of an eight-foot-wide road near Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple here slid into a 24-foot-deep pit dug for construction of a two-level underground parking lot by the Corporation on Tuesday due to alleged violation of safety norms by the contractor.

The project, part of the Smart Cities Mission, has been under execution since February 28. The parking lot is coming up in an area of 1.96 acres to ease congestion near the temple.

Residents of Gurusamy Konar Street, where the incident happened, and the adjacent Sappani Koil Street, said they heard a loud noise and found that a portion of the road had slid into the excavated area around 1.30 p.m.

N. Muthuselvi, a resident, said she, on hearing the noise while cooking, rushed out to find that half of the paver block road had slid into the pit.

A wall and galvanized zinc sheets, kept as fencing, too had fallen inside the pit. “Electric wires had been strewn all around. We immediately informed Tangedco to suspend power supply,” she said.

K. Komalavalli, another resident, said, “The road is regularly used by people, young children and cattle. It is possible that the remaining portion of the road too may cave in, because of the negligence of the Corporation. The lax adherence to safety procedures is worrying,” she said.

The contractor was expected to ensure proper strutting or provide strong base support to secure the construction site. This was not properly done, residents complained..

Corporation Commissioner S. Visakan, who was present at the site, said the contractor was constructing the project as per schedule. Executive Engineer of Zone 2 S.M. Rajendran said the road caved in because the earth was still wet. “The entire area was formerly the old vegetable market. Until 2006, there was a storm water drain here. This has made the earth wet and loose,” he said.

The workers at the site were not wearing hard hats nor was there any ‘caution’ tape tied along the road, until the accident happened, said residents. The paver block road along the street developed cracks.

The Commissioner said the contractor would soon fit the retaining wall along the stretch of the road to prevent any further accident and ensure proper strutting.

Some of the eye witnesses told The Hindu that the electricity lines that snapped during the incident fell on a woman who was passing by. The woman, who narrowly escaped from falling into the pit, sustained neck injuries and was sitting in Sappani Koil Street to catch her breath, they said.

The Commissioner, however, denied any such occurrence.