LAHORE: A deep sinkhole broke out on Johar Town’s main boulevard near Shadiwal Chowk late on Thursday, purportedly due to the rupture of a sewer line (trunk sewer).

Three members of a family were injured when their car, which was in the wrong place at the wrong time, was pulled into the 40-foot wide and 14-foot deep hole.

Deputy Commissioner Rafia Haider has ordered an investigation into the accumulation of sewage in the adjacent green belt over the last few days, allegedly due to a leak in the 48-inch-diametre pipeline.

Work to plug the rupture, which included earth-filling, compaction and asphalt laying, has been started and is expected to be completed in a few days.

“I have ordered the constitution of a fact-finding committee to dig out the reasons behind the opening up of such a massive sinkhole,” DC Haider told Dawn.

“I have learned that the sinkhole appeared because of the rupture of the 40-year old main sewer line.”

The opening of the sinkhole panicked the passing by motorists.

“Since the terrible scenes of the recent earthquake in Syria and Turkey were on my mind, I thought that the hole opened due to the earthquake,” a motorist said.

Up to 10 sinkholes have opened in Lahore in the last five years, and two of them opened at Khayaban-i-Firdausi.

Likewise, a deep sinkhole also opened up on The Mall (near GPO Chowk) in July 2018 after rainwater eroded the earth. This also caused massive damage to the structure of an underground Orange Line station.

The same month, another sinkhole sprang out in Gulshan Ravi reportedly due to a leakage of a major sewer line. In 2018, a bus was pulled into a sinkhole in Multan. Many passengers were injured in that accident.

Experts say depressions in a road’s infrastructure happen if water enters underground and causes erosion. It may also happen if there is improper or substandard earth-filling, compaction, or asphalt-laying work. Moreover, a sinkhole or depression means the surface of the ground is no longer supported.

Lahore Development Authority Director-General Aamir Ahmad Khan said that according to the initial inquiry, the main reason for the sinkhole is the ruptured sewer line, which happened due to the accumulation of gas inside.

“I will have the incident probed, but the first task is to get the hole filled and repair the line in the shortest time possible so that traffic is restored,” he explained. He claimed that the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) had earlier submitted a plan last year to the Punjab government for the replacement of the line (from Allah Hoo Chowk to Shaukat Khanum Chowk).

“It was again submitted by Wasa for its inclusion in the ongoing ADP. However, we have decided to get funds for this project in the supplementary budget of the ongoing ADP,” he maintained, adding that the sewer line needs immediate replacement, which is only possible with the provision of funds.

The DC, LDA DG and senior Wasa authorities visited the site and supervised construction work.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2023