Kochi: The severe road sinking and hazardous undulations along the 3.10-km Sahodaran Ayyappan (SA) Road corridor, stretching from Manorama Junction to Vyttila Junction, are caused by settlement of loose subsoil; however, a permanent engineering fix is possible, according to experts from National Institute of Technology (NIT), Calicut.
The high court issued an initial directive on April 7, ordering authorities to immediately fix dangerous road surface protrusions, undulations and sinking areas around the Metro pillars. The court was informed that state govt sanctioned Rs 10 crore to the corporation for permanent rectification of the stretch. The court, on Sept 18, directed the corporation to complete the entire rectification and levelling work within four months.
Because the soil underneath kept shifting, repeated temporary patchworks failed.
“The problem stems from the Metro corridor being built on reclaimed paddy field, where loose subsoil settles while Kochi Metro ’s concrete pile caps remain immovable, creating protruding, hump-like surface obstacles,” said civil engineering professor MVLR Anjaneyulu.