NHAI suspends officials after Dehradun Expressway cave-in
After a video of a section of the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway caving in went viral, NHAI has suspended the team leader of the authority engineer and the project manager of the contractor, even as it said the cave-in was due to water stagnation following rains.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), in a statement, said it has also issued show cause notices to the concerned project director, authority engineer and EPC contractor. A road surface cave-in observed on the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor on July 1, 2026, was the result of localised water stagnation following rainfall the previous night, coupled with constraints in commissioning the permanent cross-drainage system at the location, NHAI said.
“NHAI regrets the inconvenience caused to NH commuters due to the road surface cave-in at a location on the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor following rainfall. The section has been restored and opened for regular traffic movement,” it said in a post on X. According to NHAI, the permanent cross-drainage system at the location could not be commissioned due to sustained resistance from local residents, who did not permit integration of the balancing culvert and instead used the culvert opening as a vehicular crossing.
“Taking serious cognisance 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 immediately undertook restoration works and has commenced construction of an interim parallel drain to ensure safe disposal of rainwater until the permanent drainage system can be commissioned.
The affected location is under continuous monitoring to ensure safe and uninterrupted traffic movement, it added. 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.
The corridor traverses through Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and reduces travel time between Delhi and Dehradun from over six hours to around two-and-a-half hours now.
