District orders school construction halt and apartment evacuation after Akkulam earth cave-in

UPDATE - follow-up to Earth cave-in at Akkulam: Collector halts school building construction, orders evacuation of adjacent flat residents: District Collector Anju K.S. has ordered the urgent evacuation of residents living in the PRS Lake Villa apartments in Thiruvananthapuram. The order follows a dangerous earth cave-in that occurred just four metres away from the apartment building on Tuesday, October 13, 2026.

Damage and Cause

The ground collapse completely destroyed a boundary wall and caused a fifty-metre stretch of the road directly in front of the apartments to cave in. An official investigation revealed that school authorities removed soil from the nearby Good Shepherd School compound in an unscientific manner. The work proceeded without proper safety steps or the construction of a retaining wall required by permit rules, while another building is currently under construction below the site.

Action Plan

The District Collector has halted all construction at the school site until the area is fully secured and all danger to the apartments is removed. School authorities must arrange alternative accommodation for displaced families and submit a hazard-removal proposal that needs approval from the Public Works, Soil Conservation, Mining and Geology departments, and the Corporation. Meanwhile, local officials including the Thiruvananthapuram tahsildar, Corporation Secretary, and the District Police Chief are tasked with moving the residents, while the district geologist investigates if soil was removed past permitted limits.

Context

Sudden ground collapses near urban construction sites typically happen when deep excavation work lacks proper structural support like retaining walls during heavy soil removal. Local disaster management authorities step in with emergency stop-work orders and evacuations whenever public safety and nearby residential buildings face immediate structural risks.