NHAI suspends officials on C

After a video of the collapse of a portion of the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway went viral, NHAI has suspended the team leader of the authority engineer and the project manager of the contractor, despite saying that the collapse was due to water accumulation after rains.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said in a statement that it has also issued show cause notices to the concerned project director, authority engineer and EPC contractor.

The NHAI said the subsidence in the road surface on the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor on July 1, 2026, was a result of local water logging following rains the previous night as well as disruptions in operationalizing the permanent cross-drainage system at that location.

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According to NHAI, the permanent cross-drainage system could not be commissioned at the location due to continued resistance from local residents, who did not allow integration of the balancing culvert and instead used the opening of the culvert as a vehicle crossing.

“Taking serious cognizance of the incident, show cause notices have been issued to the concerned project director, authority engineer and EPC contractor, while the team leader of the authority engineer and the project manager of the contractor have been suspended,” it said.

Following the incident, NHAI said it has immediately started restoration work and construction of an interim parallel drain to ensure safe disposal of rainwater until the permanent drainage system is operational.

It said the affected area is being continuously monitored to ensure safe and uninterrupted traffic movement.

The 213 km long six-lane access-controlled corridor has been built at a cost of over Rs 12,000 crore.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway on April 14, 2026.

This corridor passes through Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and reduces the travel time between Delhi and Dehradun from six hours to about two and a half hours.