India’s Road To Progress Is Crumbling
For years now, the India story has moved at a frenetic pace of infrastructure construction, with a voluminous length of roadways, multiple major bridges and tunnels, including in seismically fragile regions, massive airport terminals, and so on. Speed and scale dominated the story; stability and sustainability less so. The time of reckoning is well upon us for ignoring the latter side of the…
India's rapid infrastructure development has left its stability and sustainability behind, raising concerns about the safety and longevity of its recent projects. Bridges, tunnels, highways, and airports across the nation have experienced serious structural issues, resulting in numerous tragic incidents and costly repairs. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been forced to expedite repairs on the recently opened Kanpur-Lucknow Expressway due to significant cracks, erosion, and surface slippage within three weeks of its opening.
The list of compromised infrastructure spans the country, including Delhi's airport terminal, Mumbai's Connecting Link, and Mrinaltai Gore flyover, as well as Telangana's Mrinaltai Gore flyover, sinking highways in parts of Jammu, Kashmir, and the Northeast, and potholes on the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway near Shamli and arterial roads in Bengaluru and Mumbai.
Between 2020 and 2024, over 23,000 pothole-related crashes, including nearly 9,440 deaths, have been reported. This tragic track record points to a systemic failure in planning, quality materials, construction, oversight, and accountability. With the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) ultimately responsible for the endurance of new infrastructure and maintenance of old, it is imperative for the government to address these issues promptly and transparently.
The Opposition should compel Nitin Gadkari, the MoRTH minister, to release a comprehensive White Paper on the nation's crumbling infrastructure, ensuring that Indians receive the reliable and durable transportation systems they deserve.
Written by urgent.news from Free Press Journal's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
