A portion of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway caved in on Tuesday in Rajasthan's Dausa district. Following this, the repair work was initiated at the site, according to Project Director of the expressway in the district. As the visuals of the cave in surfaced, Congress slammed the PM Modi-led government over the road cave in on the expressway, calling it a "paatal e-way".
Balveer Yadav, the expressway's Project Director said that the road caved in on the expressway due to a water leak.
Several videos of the caved in portion of the expressway have surfaced on social media, raising concerns about the quality of the road's construction. A video recorded by commuters showed a deep crater in the middle of the road on the Delhi-Mumbai expressway. In another video, a bulldozer can be seen removing the debris.
The contractor acted swiftly as soon as he got information about the matter. He immediately barricaded the area and the pothole was repaired, the Project Director said.
"The road is getting damaged continuously due to rain, so the work of repairing it is also going on," India Today quoted Yadav as saying.
Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is India's longest expressway, stretching over 1,386 kilometres. It aims to significantly reduce the travel time between Delhi and Mumbai from the current 24 hours to just 12-13 hours.
It passes through several states, including Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Maharashtra.
In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on July 31 this year, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said the construction of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is about 80 per cent complete. The project will need at least another year to conclude.
Congress Slams PM Modi-Led Govt For Cave In
As visuals of the road cave in surfaced, Congress trained guns at the Centre calling it a "Paatal e-way".
Congress's Kerala unit wrote on X: "Turns out the Delhi-Mumbai expressway, built at a cool ₹77 Cr per km, comes with a surprise feature. A secret tunnel to Paatal, exposed by some heavy-duty truck bros! These hidden warp zones are just one of the ‘special’ add-ons of this ₹1,05,000 Cr masterpiece, courtesy of Nitin Gadkari’s next-level highway tech!"