Among them, Mayo Chikada (75), who lives in a house regarding 70 meters away from the place where the road collapsed, decided to move to another area next spring.
Ms. Chikada has been living on this land for over 40 years since she got married, and 15 years ago she rebuilt her house and lived there with her family.
However, a year ago, a cave-in was found in the road near the house, and further investigation revealed a hollow in the ground near the house.
The East Japan Expressway, which carried out tunnel construction, will repair the ground in a part of the area directly above the tunnel due to the effects of the construction, and will repair it over regarding two years. We are currently negotiating a relocation or purchase.
At first, Mr. Chikada was thinking of moving back temporarily out of attachment to the area he was used to living in.
However, he was not sure whether the construction would be completed within the period explained by the operator, and he decided to move to another area because he was tired of the situation where the end might not be seen.
Mr. Chikada said, “It’s a comfortable place to live and I have many memories, so I have a strong desire to continue living here, but we don’t have the time or mental strength to stay here forever. We’ve spent a lot of energy over the past two years, and we’ve had a lot of road collapses. It made me want to live away from problems,” he said.
On the other hand, Mr. Chikada and the local people have continued to ask the operator for an explanation of the implementation status and risks of the underground tunnel construction since before the road subsidence was discovered.
However, it is pointed out that there was no sufficient explanation in advance regarding the characteristics of the ground and the associated construction risks that were clarified by the contractor following the cave-in was found.
Mr. Chikada said, “I kept telling him that there was a vibration that pushed up from the bottom, and that it was strange, but in the end, no countermeasures were taken until a cave-in occurred. I feel that I didn’t feel like telling the risk,” he said.
