Old well beneath the surface caused sinkhole that swallowed truck: Pune Municipal Corporation

The Minister of State for Civil Aviation and Member of Parliament for Pune, Murlidhar Mohol, also confirmed that the sinkhole was caused by a well at the site that was over a hundred years old.

The incident occurred at around 4 p.m. in the parking lot in front of Pune's oldest post office on Laxmi Road in the densely populated town of Budhwar Peth. Two large cranes and four hours were needed to recover the two vehicles. The spot where the sinkhole had occurred was used by visitors and postal workers to park their vehicles and drive through.

Videos of the incident shared online show the truck sliding rear-first into the hole when the paved surface – made up of interlocking concrete blocks – gave way. A motorcycle parked nearby also fell into the pit.

The truck, belonging to a PMC contractor and fitted with a high-pressure cleaning machine used to clean sewer lines, plunged about 40 feet into the well. Initially, both PMC and Pune Metro were criticised for the incident.

Explaining the situation, Pune MP Murlidhar Mohol said, “The truck fell into an old well. Over a hundred years ago, there was a well on the City Post premises, which was later covered with a concrete slab. The exact time when the well was covered is unclear. Subsequently, paving stones were laid on this slab and the area was levelled. Opposition parties have tried to politicise this and blame the Bharatiya Janata Party, but there is no connection between PMC's work and the accident.”

Mohol's comments came hours after PMC Commissioner Rajendra Bhosale, Pune Metro Director Atul Gadgil and PMC Roads Director Aniruddha Pawaskar visited the construction site on Friday to take stock of the situation.

Pawaskar explained, “We cross-checked the information and found that it was an old well which had been filled with rubble and later covered with a paved surface. The weight of the truck carrying the high pressure washer caused the surface to collapse as it could not bear the load, resulting in the truck falling into the well. PMC's sewer lines are far away from this spot.”

A fire official confirmed that the truck driver survived the incident unharmed.

An anonymous PMC official added, “We have inquired with the locals whether an old water pipe from the Peshwa era still exists, but we have not found any evidence of it. However, the existence of a well on the City Post premises has been confirmed.”

Metro director Gadgil also clarified that the Pune Metro's underground tunnel, which is 15 metres below ground, had nothing to do with the sinkhole or the accident. “There is no connection between this incident and any metro work,” he said.