Palakkad: The water authority hasn’t fixed the drinking water pipe that has been leaking for days, despite informing them multiple times. Now, a part of the Chunnambuthara Road has collapsed after water got seeped into the ground. An electric post on the road too got damaged. Meanwhile, a bike rider had a miraculous escape after he fell into the marshy area where the road collapsed.

Mundoor native A Sharat (31) fell into the ditch at around 8 last night. Sharat, who sustained a minor leg injury, sought treatment at a private hospital in Olavakod. The part of the road to Ram Nagar, underneath the Chunnambuthara bridge, has collapsed. This road from Palakkad leads to Olavakode via Jainimedu. 

The street lights stopped working after the electric post got damaged. Without light, many vehicles tried to move ahead, unaware of the fact that the road had collapsed. However, they pulled back seeing the electric lines on the road. The passengers saw the damaged road only when they got out and inspected the area using the flashlights on their mobile phones.

They immediately alerted the shopkeepers nearby. Local residents led by municipal permanent health samiti chairman P Smithesh and ward councillor K Jayalakshmi cordoned off the road by tying a rope and the vehicles were diverted to another route. North police too arrived at the spot to manage the traffic. 

The pipeline has been leaking for over a week, with the leakage getting severe with each day. Although the municipal member and the people of the locality alerted the water authority multiple times, the authorities showed complete apathy. Besides, more than 300 houses in the Chunnambuthara, Ram Nagar, Pranamkulam and Indrani Nagar areas went into darkness after the electric post broke.

Electricity couldn’t be restored at many areas even at night. Meanwhile, KSEB officials said that electricity will be completely restored by morning. Municipal members, including the chairman, had protested in front of the water authority office demanding to repair the roads that were dug up for the drinking water project. They had also urged the authorities to stop the leakage by fixing the water pipes. 

“Water has been leaking here for the last week. We alerted the authorities many times, even submitted a complaint in person. However, no action has been taken until now. The road collapsed after the leakage became severe. No one came to fix the damaged pipe even at night,” says ward councillor K Jayalakshmi.