**Summary:**
On May 19, 2025, a settlement of embankment and failure of a Reinforced Earth (RE) wall occurred on the Ramanattukara-Valanchery section of National Highway 66 in Kerala, as the project neared completion. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has attributed the incident to the concessionaire's negligence in assessing and improving ground conditions before construction. Consequently, NHAI has disallowed Ms. KNR Constructions Ltd. and Ms. Highway Engineering Consultant from participating in ongoing and future bidding. The Project Manager of the Concessionaire and the Team Leader of the Consultant have been suspended. An expert team, led by a retired professor from IIT Delhi, has assessed the site to determine the cause of the failure and recommend remedial measures, which will be implemented at the concessionaire's expense. The team will also suggest preventative measures for other projects in Kerala, and guidelines will be issued to prevent similar incidents in the future. Preliminary assessments suggest the failure was caused by the inability of foundation soils to support the embankment loads.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Road Transport Highways: The government ministry responsible for road transport and highways.
Embankment and Failure of RE Wall on Ramanattukara Valanchery Section of NH66 in Kerala: The specific incident being investigated, involving the settlement of an embankment and failure of a Reinforced Earth (RE) wall on a section of National Highway 66 in Kerala.
22 MAY 2025: The date the information was posted.
PIB Delhi: Press Information Bureau, Delhi - the source of the information.
Ramanattukara Valanchery Section of NH66: A specific section of National Highway 66 in Kerala where the incident occurred.
Kerala: The state in India where the incident took place.
19 May 2025: The date of the incident.
NHAI: National Highways Authority of India, the governing body that has taken action against the concessionaire and consultant.
Ms KNR Constructions Ltd: The Concessionaire (company responsible for the project) that has been disallowed from future bidding.
Project Consultant Independent Engineer, Ms Highway Engineering Consultant: The Project Consultant Independent Engineer that has been disallowed from future bidding.
Project Manager of Concessionaire: Individual who has been suspended from duties.
Team Leader of Consultant: Individual who has been suspended from duties.
IITDelhi: Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, the institution from which a retired professor was selected to supervise the expert team.
Retd. Professor from IITDelhi: Head of the expert team investigating the incident.
GDHHR Release ID: 2130592: A release identification number.
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
Settlement of Embankment and Failure of RE Wall
on Ramanattukara - Valanchery Section of NH-66 in
Kerala
Posted On: 22 MAY 2025 6:46PM by PIB Delhi
An incident of settlement of embankment and failure of RE Wall was reported on Ramanattukara -
th
Valanchery Section of NH-66 in Kerala on 19 May 2025 when the project is nearing completion.
Prima facie, the incident occurred due to negligence of the concessionaire to confirm the ground
conditions and improve ground bearing capacity prior to the commencement of work.
Taking strict action against the Concessionaire, NHAI has disallowed M/s KNR Constructions Ltd from
participating in ongoing/ future bidding forthwith.
Project Consultant / Independent Engineer, M/s Highway Engineering Consultant has also been disallowed
from participating in ongoing / future bidding.
Project Manager of Concessionaire and Team Leader of Consultant have also been suspended from their
duties.
NHAI is taking all essential steps to ensure necessary remedial measures are taken to address the situation. A
team of two experts under the supervision of a Retd. Professor from IIT-Delhi, visited the site to analyse the
reason for the incident and suggest remedial measures. Based on the measures suggested by the expert team,
work will be executed at the risk and cost of Concessionaire. Additionally, the expert team will also suggest
measures that could be taken in other ongoing projects in Kerala. Guidelines will be issued so that such
incidents do not occur in other projects being implemented in the state.
Preliminary Assessment of failure by the experts is failure of embankment likely caused due to inability of
foundation soils to support high embankment loads.
***
GDH/HR
(Release ID: 2130592)