LAHORE: Plugging the sinkhole on Johar Town’s main boulevard may take a couple of days, says the Lahore Development Authority (LDA).

The road has been blocked to motorists since Feb 10.

“The work at the site has been ongoing round the clock,” LDA Director (Engineering Wing-1) Usman Manzoor told Dawn.

He said the affected portion was handed over to the LDA engineering team on Wednesday after a team of the Water and Sanitation Agency replaced the ruptured portion of the main sewerage line with the new one. They also drained the accumulated sewerage water from the 20-foot-deep sinkhole.

“Now we have completed the compaction of the soil. After this, we will lay layers of base and sub-base of crushed stones,” the official said, adding that the road will be opened soon after the completion of the asphalt work.

On the other hand, the commuters continue to suffer due to traffic congestion around the sinkhole area. “Reaching Shaukat Khanum or entering the Khaban-e-Jinnah through the flyover takes 10 to 15 minutes these days as the entire traffic has been diverted to the service road due to repair and maintenance work at the sinkhole site,” says a motorist. “Previously we use to reach in a minute or two,” he said.

It merits mentioning that a deep sinkhole had broken out on Johar Town’s main boulevard near Shadiwal Chowk late on Thursday, due to the rupture of a sewer line (trunk sewer).

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2023