More than a day after a portion of road along the BRT stretch near Defence Colony caved in, government officials on Monday were all at sea explaining the reason behind the “freak accident”.

“We still cannot find a reason because the contractor had merely resurfaced the road when construction for BRT corridor was being carried out,” an official from RITES, project manager for the corridor between Ambedkar Nagar and Delhi Gate, said. “The contractor has checked all manholes along the stretch to find out cause of the road collapsing but all sections are intact.

“So, we are still trying to find the reason.”

The official said authorities suspect there was an abandoned drain running underneath which collapsed after rainwater seeped into it after the heavy downpour on July 27.

The cave-in, reported at 1.30 am on Sunday, created a seven-foot-deep cavity in the road and left two motorcyclists injured.

Both RITES and DIMTS, in charge of operating the corridor once it starts, are looking again at designs and details provided by the Public Works Department (PWD) and the MCD. The official said MCD had handed over the road to PWD two years ago — it was then resurfaced by the contractor for BRT a year-an-half ago.

Government officials are also checking whether extensive Metro railway construction work in the area affected the road surface. “There has been deep drilling around the cavity, so it could be a possibility,” an official said, “but we are still trying find the cause before jumping to conclusions.”

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