Under-Construction National Highway Flyover Collapses: Cars, School Van STUCK [Video]
India’s national highway expansion and infrastructure development projects have lately been plagues with mishaps and accidents. In the past few months, we have seen unfinished patches collapsing or developing major issues in many places. The latest such case is from Kerala’s Kollam district. An under-construction flyover collapsed, developing massive cracks in the road around. Several vehicles, including a school van, had miraculous escapes. No one was reportedly hurt in the incident.
This unfortunate incident occurred near Kottiyam in Kollam district. National Highway 66 (NH66) is on of the busiest highway corridors in Kerala, connecting Kasaragod to Trivandrum, the state capital. Construction and expansion works are currently underway at many places on this highway.
On Friday evening (December 5th), an under-construction flyover in Mylacaudu, near Kottiyam suffered a major embankment failure, as it caved, developing large cracks on the road below. At least four vehicles including a school bus, were passing through this road then, all of which got stuck in these cracks. The concrete walls of the flyover’s embankment, however, did not collapse. This kept these vehicles and their occupants safe.
Passengers and students were soon evacuated and moved to safety. No injuries have been reported yet. The development, however, brought the traffic on this busy highway to a complete standstill. Diversions were arranged later.
This stretch is now a two-lane highway. It is now being converted into a six-lane with two carriageways. Shivalaya Construction Ltd is undertaking these works. The under-construction flyover collapsing at a time when the place had no major rainfall and was mostly dry, has raised serious concerns avbout the quality of construction and the stability of the reinforced earth (RE) wall. In fact, locals even allege that the construction company has been following ‘unscientific methods’ with this particular site.
Some residents also state that their repeated complaints about the site’s stability were ignored. They have now demanded an immediate inspection of the soil used at this site. “Since it’s an area near paddy fields, filling with soil is risky, and they are playing with the safety of the public. The present earth-filling method should be abandoned in favour of building pillar-supported structures to ensure long-term stability,” a resident reportedly told The Hindu.
The construction company, however, maintained that they greenlit the project after conducting extensive scientific studies. National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) too has reportedly denied allegations of being ‘unscientific’.
Soon after the unfortunate incident, PWD Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas ordered a detailed investigation on the same. The Public Works Secretary has also been directed to seek an explanation from NHAI officials inspecting the location.
The timing of this further aligns with that of Kerala’s local body elections. People in the Kollam district will go to polls on December 9. Something so serious happening just days before the election will instantly get a lot of attention. The flyover-collapse indeed did!
Congress has come up with strong responses. Kerala’s current opposition leader and Congress MLA VD. Satheeshan stated that the concerned authorities must take accountability for the situation. AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal, MP, said that this incident has once again proved NHAI’s negligence in construction and quality compromises. He’s also alleged corruption in the highway works.
Kerala Congress’ official X handle, posted a video of the collapsed flyover and explained the incident in detail. The post also cited the previous example from Kottakkal, in which a whole embankment sunk into a paddy field during the rainy season, early this year. It further alleges major corruption in these construction projects. In the closing remarks, it says ‘NH-66 is turning out to be a ticking time bomb which can collapse at any place at any time.’ Mentioning the Union Transport Minister’s official handle, it says, ‘Nitin Gadkari will stay silent because he made the money, at maybe 200 Cr per month or more. Now it is left for the people to fend.’
Gadkari has, in fact, been very vocal about his focus on ensuring quality of newly constructed highways. In many previous incidents, we saw him punish contractors and companies who built low-quality stretches, with massive fines and other penalties. The Minister is likely to come up with similar actions in this case as well. We will get to know more about these in the coming weeks.