Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has reported 55 instances of collapses or damage on roads, bridges, and tunnel projects over the previous five years.
In response to a query from Madhya Pradesh Congress MP Digvijaya Singh regarding who should be held responsible for damaged roads, Gadkari informed the Rajya Sabha, “Of them, 40 happened during the construction phase, and the rest were in completed projects.”
In nearly every case, there were several instances of disciplinary action taken against private enterprises, but only two cases involved government employees. He also stated that the project director of PIU Nagpur was moved to the regional office due to poor flyover construction on NH-6, and the project director of PIU Palanpur was suspended for poor construction of the six-lane Sanchore–Santalpur segment of the 130-km Amritsar–Jamnagar Economic Corridor (NH–754K).
Since the Silkyara Tunnel project is being carried out by the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), a distinct organisation under the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH), these figures do not include the accident that occurred there in November 2023 and claimed 41 lives.
“Damages in projects undertaken by state and central agencies other than NHAI were not included in the details,” Gadkari stated. The Center’s 900-kilometer Char Dham Yatra All Weather Road includes the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, which attempts to enhance access to the four sacred pilgrimage destinations.