NH-66 stretch collapse in Kerala: NHAI suspends its project director, asks contractor to bear costs

The 39.7-km project from Ramanattukara to the start of the Valanchery bypass of NH-66 is 99 per cent complete. The total cost of the project is Rs 2,368 crore.

The NHAI said the team of experts, comprising Dr Anil Dixit of IIT Delhi; Dr Jimmy Thomas of IIT-Kanpur; Dr K Mohan Krishna of IIT-Gandhinagar and retired IIT-Delhi professor G V Rao, was constituted the day the cave-in occurred. “The expert team visited the site on May 21 to analyse the failure and recommend remedial measures. The preliminary assessment suggests that the failure is due to inability of the foundation soils to support the high embankment loads,” said an official.

After the incident, NHAI suspended the Hyderabad-based concessionaire of the project, KNR Constructions, from participating in future bids, along with a show-cause notice to levy monetary penalty of Rs 11.8 crore and debarment for up to one year.

“The project manager of the concessionaire was also suspended. The concessionaire is also required to clear the debris and  rectify the damage by constructing a new flyover at their own cost (Rs 80 crore approx),” said the official.

Apart from the concessionaire, the independent engineer of the project, Highway Engineering Consultant, and its team leader was also suspended. On May 29, NHAI issued a show-cause notice to design consultant Strata Geosystem and HBS Infra Engineers and safety consultant Sri Infotech for debarment up to one year and a penalty of Rs 20 lakh.

After the incident, on May 24, NHAI also constituted an additional expert committee comprising a retired CRRI scientist, an associate professor from IIT-Palakkad and Deputy Director General from Geological Survey of India (GSI) to assess other potentially vulnerable locations of reinforced soil (RS) walls and slope protection works in 17 ongoing projects on NH-66 in Kerala.