India's Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has taken disciplinary action against 22 officials — 11 dismissed and 11 others penalized — following structural failures on 19 national highway projects over 2025–2026. The disclosure, made by Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on 29 July 2026, named the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway (NE-4) among the affected corridors.
What Was Reported on NE-4 Specifically
Three separate defects on the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway were flagged in the ministry's disclosure and subsequent reporting:
- An 8-foot-wide hole opened in a bridge deck near Ankleshwar, Gujarat
- Surface collapses were reported earlier at Dausa and Sawai Madhopur in Rajasthan
- Monsoon rain exposed ruts, cracks, and surface deformation on the Sanchore–Santalpur stretch in Gujarat, which drew a ₹2.8 crore penalty against the contractor and a recommendation to bar the firm from future bidding until defects are rectified
Of the 19 total affected projects nationally, 7 were in Kerala — including a 250-metre elevated corridor collapse on NH-66 at Kooriyad, Malappuram in May 2025, where foundation soil proved unable to carry the embankment load above it.
What Action Was Taken
According to Gadkari's statement, contractors and concessionaires face measures set out in their contract and concession agreements — including termination, financial penalties, liquidated damages, debarment, and formal blacklisting as non-performers. The 11 dismissed officials were removed following performance assessment; the remaining 11 faced action for negligence and dereliction of duty.
NHAI also issued show-cause notices on a separate but related incident — large potholes that opened on the Delhi–Dehradun Expressway near Shamli, Uttar Pradesh, on 1 July 2026, just under three months after that route's inauguration. NHAI attributed the damage to water pooling after the season's first monsoon rain, compounded by delays commissioning a permanent cross-drainage system; a planned balancing culvert could not be brought into service due to a local land dispute. The damaged section was repaired and reopened within days, with permanent drainage work ongoing.
What This Means for NE-4 Travellers
None of the reported defects have been described as affecting sections currently open to public traffic in a way that has closed them long-term — the Sanchore–Santalpur and Shamli repairs were both completed within days. That said, the pattern is a reminder that a mega-corridor built in phases, through varied terrain and monsoon conditions, will surface localized quality issues as sections come online. If you're driving affected stretches — particularly around Dausa, Sawai Madhopur, and the Gujarat sections near Ankleshwar and Sanchore — drive attentively, especially after heavy rain.
For a related, more immediate driver report from the Kota–Jaipur stretch, see our post on pavement condition reports on NE-4.
Sources: Reply by the Minister of Road Transport and Highways in the Rajya Sabha, 29 July 2026; contemporaneous reporting on the disclosure.