A car fell into a sinkhole on Chennai’s Old Mahabalipuram Road near Tidel Park on Thursday morning, close to an underground Metro construction site, disrupting traffic between Tidel Park signal and Taramani. The two occupants escaped without injuries, while the vehicle was removed and Chennai Metro Rail Ltd (CMRL) began securing and filling the cavity.
The incident occurred at about 10.45am near the Thiruvanmiyur MRTS area, when a white SUV travelling from Indira Nagar crossed the road near a signal. A section of the road close to the median suddenly gave way, trapping one of the vehicle’s front tyres before the car overturned and fell into the opening.
The driver, identified as Praveen, said the occupants had stopped at the signal and felt the vehicle sinking as they began moving. They immediately got out, he said, but the car overturned and disappeared into the pit within minutes.
The collapse occurred near an underground Metro worksite where a tunnel boring machine was operating. Officials at the location said underground utilities had been shifted before the Metro work began and that a rupture in a water pipeline was therefore unlikely to have caused the collapse. They said the operation of a tunnel boring machine or other underground construction activity could have contributed to land subsidence. The cause remains subject to a technical enquiry.
CMRL later said the sinkhole was about 30 metres from the shaft where underground station work was under way. It confirmed that tunnel boring machine Bhavani was constructing a tunnel from Thiruvanmiyur towards Taramani as part of Phase-2 Corridor-3.
In a statement, CMRL said the vehicle had been lifted from the sinkhole and that backfilling with concrete was in progress. The agency added that necessary safety and site-protection measures were being implemented and that a technical enquiry was under way.
The road collapse created heavy congestion between Tidel Park signal and Taramani, with traffic moving slowly through the affected stretch. Authorities diverted vehicles, except two-wheelers coming from the CPT side, at Indira Nagar Junction towards Indira Nagar Water Tank Road. Motorists using Indira Nagar Second Avenue were directed to turn right towards Water Tank Road and continue to Tidel Park via the Thiruvanmiyur junction.
The affected stretch already carries substantial daily traffic serving Tidel Park, Taramani, Thiruvanmiyur and surrounding employment and residential areas. The incident added restrictions to a corridor where Metro construction, existing road traffic and access to major technology and transport nodes operate alongside one another. CMRL’s technical enquiry and the completion of site-protection work will determine the next steps for restoring normal movement and establishing the precise cause of the collapse.
