The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Thursday initiated disciplinary action over the recent road surface cave-in on the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor, issuing a show-cause notice to the project director while suspending key officials and seeking action against the contractor.The move comes days after videos of the damaged stretch went viral, triggering criticism over the condition of the newly inaugurated expressway.According to NHAI, a show-cause notice has been issued to the project director, fixing responsibility for the incident. A separate notice has also been served to the authority engineer for alleged negligence in services. It has also issued notice to the EPC contractor, seeking an explanation on why it should not be declared a non-performer and debarred from future NHAI works.Additionally, the team leader of the authority engineer has been suspended, while the project manager of the EPC contractor has also been suspended.Earlier, NHAI issued a clarification on X, saying, “NHAI would like to inform that the road surface cave-in at Km 55+480 on the Delhi–Dehradun Economic Corridor occurred due to water stagnation following rainfall, coupled with constraints in commissioning the permanent cross-drainage system at the location.” The authority said the affected stretch was identified during routine inspections and repaired immediately.NHAI said the damaged stretch was identified during routine patrolling on July 1 and repaired on priority to ensure “safe and uninterrupted movement of traffic.”Explaining the delay in completing the permanent drainage system, the authority said the balancing culvert could not be commissioned due to resistance from local residents, while permanent slope protection and chute drain works remain pending because of a land dispute.As an interim measure, NHAI said it has begun constructing a 1.5-km parallel drain and redesigning the drainage gradient until the permanent system is commissioned. It added that the site remains under continuous monitoring and that “all necessary resources have been deployed to ensure safe and smooth traffic movement.”Earlier in the day, the Congress slammed BJP, alleging that the corridor had developed massive potholes within two months of its inauguration and accused the Centre of poor construction quality and corruption in infrastructure projects.Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 213-km Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor on April 14, 2026. NHAI’s disciplinary action indicates that accountability has begun to be fixed while the authority continues work on permanent drainage infrastructure and further scrutiny of the project is expected.
