TikTok’s viral ‘tunnel lady’ ordered to stop digging project by city officials

The woman known across TikTok as the ‘tunnel lady’ has been ordered to stop her viral unpermitted digging endeavor by city officials.

37-year-old Kala, also known as ‘engineer everything’ online, has become a veritable sensation on social media thanks to her viral project digging a 30-foot-long tunnel off the side of her basement as a kind of underground “storm shelter.”

Kala began her project in August 2022 and has been documenting the process on TikTok ever since October of that year.

While Kala says she has no formal background in engineering, she claims she has undertaken most of the work herself, occasionally recruiting friends for help when needed.

TikTok’s ‘tunnel girl’ ordered to stop viral digging project

Kala’s unique endeavor has earned her half a million followers as viewers pour in asking questions like, “Is it legal to just start digging?” and “Do we have a goal, or are we just expressing ourselves through tunneling?”

However, it looks like Kala’s project has been put on pause. In a TikTok video uploaded on December 28, 2023, Kala performed a sort of ‘skit’ reenacting her encounter with city officials who supposedly asked her to stop tunneling.

In her video, Kala claimed that she was hit with an official order to halt her current activities, and said that she needs to obtain the proper permits to continue to her tunnel after it gets evaluated by an engineer.

“So, they did give me a stop work order, and are requiring an immediate evaluation by a professional engineer,” she said. “Fortunately, contrary to a few rumors here, it is constructed entirely below the slab of my house, and it shouldn’t be too hard to get the permits and approval. So, we’ll be working on that.”

While Kala’s content has mostly garnered curious cats in awe of her odd hobby, several viewers expressed criticism of her viral tunnel, with one writing: “‘It shouldn’t be too hard to get the permits and approval,’ then maybe you should’ve done that first, Kala. Also you are downplaying the severity of your passion project even in your reenactment.”

“When I fall into a sinkhole because my quirky neighbor wanted tunnels for some reason,” another wrote.

Kala has declined to comment further on the matter “until the permit process is complete,” as per the New York Post — so fans will just have to wait and see what’s to come of this viral underground undertaking.