WATCH: Part of Nainital’s Mall Road collapsing into Naini lake 

Some parts of Lower Mall Road in Nainital’s lake area suddenly collapsed into Naini lake on Saturday, August 18. Providentially, no vehicle or pedestrians were traversing the stretch at the time. Some locals and tourists were able to capture the collapse on video.

Uttarakhand has been seeing continuous rain for the past several days, with reports of landslides and road damage in several places. Daily life has been badly affected by the constant rain. Nainital district in Kumaon region has also seen heavy rain. But what happened in Nainital on Saturday shows the consequences that tampering with nature can have in the hilly areas. Watch the video below:

Due to heavy rains, landslides have occurred in Lower Mall Road, which runs adjacent to Naini Lake. On Saturday, about 20 meters of the road near the Grand Hotel collapsed into the lake. Traffic was stopped after the collapse.

In recent years, the Tallital side of Nainital has seen many new houses built on the slopes, due to which the drainage system created during the British period was blocked. Water which would drain into the lake from the upper slopes was blocked. The trapped water slowly weakened parts of the Lower Mall Road, leading to Saturday’s calamity.

Locals say that on July 28, a part of the Mall Road had cracked and complaints were lodged with the Public Works Department, which then examined this stretch of the road and, as a precaution, had placed stones to stop traffic movement on that part of the road. But the stone wall running along the lake and this stretch of the Lower Mall Road continues to weaken under the continuous rain. The crack in the road was increasing dangerously.

No attempt was made to repair this stretch in front of the Grand Hotel and Nainital Bank. However, media reports quoted Assistant Engineer of PWD MPS Kalakoti as saying that immediate measures were taken and the permanent solution required a budget of at least ₹40 crore.

Reports say recently, specialists from IIT Roorkee examined the entire area and had suggested remedies for the danger zone of about 150 meters of Lower Mall Road, including placing iron pipes with concrete filling, etc. However, the suggestions remained on paper with the government, until it was too late.