Massive sinkhole in Ludhiana triggers house evacuation, traffic chaos | Watch

A massive sinkhole, several feet deep, appeared on a road in Ludhiana's Kitchlu Nagar area on Wednesday. This sudden geological event forced the local administration to order the immediate evacuation of a neighboring house and completely suspend traffic on the affected stretch. Municipal Corporation Ludhiana Commissioner Ojaswi Alankar visited the site, confirming that a technical investigation would be initiated to ascertain the cause of this significant road collapse.

Preliminary assessments by engineers indicated that the damage might be related to the installation of optical fibre cables close to the city's sewer infrastructure. Commissioner Alankar stated, "Look, this is a matter of inquiry as to what the actual reason was and how such a major road cave-in occurred. But at the same time, what appears preliminary to us from looking at the site and what the engineers have told me is that some optical fibre cables were laid near our brick sewer."

She added that it remains uncertain when the cables were laid, but emphasized that their installation could have compromised a manhole. Alankar explained, "It is possible that due to that, a manhole was damaged, leading to leakage, which started the erosion, and that is why the road caved in." Addressing resident safety, the MC chief assured that the area was declared unsafe and residents had been informed accordingly.

Traffic police cordoned off the area and diverted vehicles to alternative routes to prevent accidents. The PAU Police Station deployed personnel to manage the crowd gathering near the sinkhole, and repair work began on the site.