Mallapuram (Kerala) [India], May 29 (ANI): The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has suspended the project engineer and terminated its site engineer who are part of the NH-66 project in Kerala, following an investigation into the collapse of a part of the embankment at the national highway, with the contractor being tasked to construct the viaduct at the highway at their own cost.

A port of the embankment and RE Wall was reported on Ramanattukara-Valanchery Section of NH-66 in Kerala on May 19, 2025, when the project was nearing completion, read a statement from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on May 22. While no deaths occurred due to the collapse of the embankment, multiple cars were stuck at the section.

On May 19, a team of four experts was constituted to study the reasons for failed Kooriyad RE wall including testing under the supervision of a Retired IIT-Delhi Professor GV Rao. The preliminary assessment by the team suggested that the failure is due to inability of the foundation soils to support the high embankment loads.

On May 24, an additional expert committee was constituted, comprising of a retired senior Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) scientist, an Associate Professor from IIT-Palakkad and the Deputy Director General from the Geological Survey of India (GSI). The committee is tasked with assessing other potential location of reinforced soil (RS) walls and slope protection works in 17 ongoing projects on NH-66 in Kerala.

NHAI also levied a monetary penalty of Rs 20 lakh on Thursday against the Design Consultant, Strata Geosystems, and debarred them for one year. The Highway Authority has also served a show cause notice to Sri Infotech, which was the safety consultant of the project, while also issuing a penalty of Rs 20 lakh.

On May 21, NHAI had suspended the Concessionaire, KNR Constructions Ltd from participating in ongoing/future bidding. Project consultant/independent engineer, Highway Engineering Consultant has also been disallowed from participating in future and ongoing bids.

The Project Manager of Concessionaire and Team Leader of Consultant have also been suspended from their duties, according to the ministry.

The Concessionaire is also required to clear the debris from the RE wall collapse and rectify the damage by constructing a new flyover at their cost, with the cost being approximately Rs 80 crore. (ANI)