Father-daughter fall in sinkhole: Who’s at fault?
Officials are passing the buck about who is responsible for the incident where a father and daughter travelling on a motorcycle fell into a sinkhole, and how similar occurrences could be prevented.
The Gothatuwa Police are to present a report to court in the coming week regarding the incident.
The Gothatuwa Police told the Sunday Times that the court will determine who is at fault based on their inquiry.
The incident occurred on Tuesday in front of the Water Supply and Drainage Board office in the area.
Water Board Officials said that although water supply was disrupted, it had been restored the following day.
The Sunday Times visited the site where construction work continued. Residents of the area told us that a leak had occurred at around 2 a.m.
There was a previous accident where a lorry fell into the sinkhole. Water Board officials suspect that a pipe had burst, which had led to the creation of the sinkhole. They claim that there had not been a visible leak the previous evening.
According to the area Police, statements have been obtained from the father and the daughter, the main engineers of the Water Board, contractors and the engineers in charge of the site as well as residents.
They said that the pipe that leaked was not installed recently. It had been installed three to four years back and a pipe coupling had detached due to the high pressure of water.
However, residents of the area and eyewitnesses alleged that construction standards were not up to par as overseeing engineers do not carryout their duties adequately.
“Engineers that come to oversee the situation need to go inside and see what’s really going on instead of bringing a notebook and writing off what they see,” one resident said. Some expressed fears that a similar incident could reoccur.
Project Director of the Ambatale Water Supply System Improvement and Energy Saving project, V G U Ranjith said that there’s a pipeline of the project that is 14 feet deep and 4 feet wide. “The line was backfilled and a temporary road reinstatement had been done. If there was a small leak, the material of the backfilling in the trench could have washed away,” he said.
“We are trying our best to complete construction work as soon as possible, but we have a lot of practical issues such as the Road Development Authority (RDA) not allowing us to continue during the daytime. We work in ways that do not cause any inconvenience to the public,” he said.
Residents alleged that quarry dust is used directly instead of being mixed with sand, so the tendency of a sinkhole being created through a small leak is relatively high.
However, Mr Ranjith said that they use materials according to the specifications of the RDA.
The family that faced the incident are said to receive compensation.