A car plunged into a sinkhole after a section of Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) caved in near Tidel Park in Chennai on Thursday morning, disrupting traffic on one of the city’s busiest stretches. The two occupants escaped unhurt, while officials began work to remove the vehicle and restore the damaged section.
The incident occurred near Thiruvanmiyur MRTS, close to an underground Metro construction site. The white car was travelling along OMR when a portion of the road near the median suddenly gave way, trapping one of its front tyres. A video from the scene showed an MTC bus attempting to pass between the car and a Metro barricade before the vehicle plunged into the cavity and landed upside down.
The collapse affected traffic movement around the Tidel Park area, where OMR carries daily commuter traffic and serves major employment and commercial destinations. The road section remained subject to emergency repair activity as workers focused on extracting the car and filling the sinkhole.
Chennai Metro Rail Limited officials had not confirmed whether the underground Metro construction was linked to the road collapse, according to the Times of India report. The absence of a confirmed cause leaves the relationship between the construction activity and the cave-in unresolved.
Police sources said underground utilities, including Metro Water pipelines, had been relocated before the Metro work began. They ruled out a rupture in the water pipelines as a possible cause of the collapse. No alternative cause was confirmed in the report.
The incident highlights the operational risks created when major road corridors are used alongside underground infrastructure works. At the affected location, traffic had to move through a constrained section near the median and Metro barricades, while emergency teams worked to secure the road and clear the overturned car.
The immediate response involves removing the vehicle, filling the sinkhole and managing traffic around the damaged stretch. Further clarification from Chennai Metro Rail Limited and the authorities handling the road repair is expected to establish what caused the OMR section to cave in and whether additional inspections are required near the construction site.
