Highways Disintegrating Every Monsoon: Tripura High Court Expresses Concern About Risk To Citizens' Lives
The Court directed Union of India to inquire into contractor selection within three months, ordered Border Roads Organisation (BRO) audit and bi-weekly progress reports on NH-208 and NH-108B.
The Tripura High Court, while taking suo motu cognizance of road and highway infrastructure, which the newspaper termed it as a “death trap”, expressed deep regret over the plight of commuters, observing, that it feels “sorry for the citizens of the State whose lives and livelihoods are put at risk by the NHIDCL and its EPC Contractors”. Stating that it is high time the Union of India conducts a systemic audit of the working of NHAI and NHIDCL given national reports of costly highways disintegrating shortly after construction or right after the first monsoon, it noted that "a distinct possibility of officials of NHIDCL colluding with the EPC contractor/s" engaged for National Highways 208 and 108B, which repeatedly decayed into waterlogged, pothole-ridden stretches despite taxpayer expenditures exceeding Rs. 5 crore per kilometre.
Holding NHIDCL accountable as a statutory delegate owing an unalienable duty of care to road users, the Court ruled that subcontracting work to EPC agencies does not relieve public authorities of their obligations. To enforce accountability, the Bench directed the Union of India to execute a time-bound probe into contractor selection and substandard material usage, ordering prompt civil or criminal prosecution against defaulting officials or agencies. Additionally, the Court mandated bi-weekly progress reports on ongoing repairs and tasked the Engineering staff of the Border Roads Organisation with conducting an independent post-repair audit to evaluate the quality of work.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao and Justice Biswajit Palit observed, “It is high time the Union of India starts a systemic audit of the working of the NHAI and NHIDCL as newspaper reports are full nowadays of National Highways built at a huge cost disintegrating sometimes even before their inauguration or shortly thereafter and even before the first monsoon season or immediately thereafter. Coming to the instant PIL, we feel sorry for the citizens of the State whose lives and livelihoods are put at risk by the NHIDCL and it’s EPC Contractors and the inability of the State Government in improving things much”.
“This Court has a duty to make all the respondents accountable as they have not properly discharged their responsibilities in discharge of their functions in maintaining in a safe and motorable condition these National Highways though considerable amount of the tax payers money was spent for laying them from time to time”, the Bench had also noted.
Bidyut Majumder, Deputy Solicitor General of India, S.M. Chakraborti, Advocate General, Senior Advocate B.N. Majumder appeared for the respondents.
The PIL originated from news reports appearing in June and July 2026 describing NH-108B (Khowai-Agartala) and NH-208 (Kumarghat-Sabroom) as "death traps" riddled with large potholes, broken surfaces and waterlogging, and alleging corruption through use of substandard materials, with the Chief Minister of Tripura having separately written to and met the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways over the deteriorating condition of these highways, among others, during the monsoon season.
Considering the significance of these highways as lifelines for a border State with no railway alternative, the Court registered the PIL on July 07, 2026, suo motu impleaded NHIDCL, and directed the Secretary, District Legal Services Authority, Khowai, to inspect the affected stretches and file a report.
Following a three-day inspection in July 2026, the DLSA filed a detailed report on July 27, 2026, documenting near-continuous "High" risk conditions across both highways, including blocked drainage, extensive cracking, severe potholes, damaged medians, missing crash barriers, and landslide risks.
The State Government blamed NHIDCL and its Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) contractors, noting administrative control was transferred to NHIDCL in 2017 and reaffirmed on July 18, 2025. Conversely, NHIDCL attributed the conditions to its EPC contractors' persistent delays, poor mobilization, and failure to meet contractual milestones despite repeated cure notices and risk-and-cost work orders.
Considering Sections 4 and 5 of the National Highways Act, 1956, alongside precedents like NHAI v. Aam Aadmi Lokmanch (2021) 11 SCC 566, the Court ruled that delegating highway maintenance to NHIDCL imposes a continuing duty of care that is not erased by subcontracting work to EPC agencies.
The Court found it "baffling" that the State Government merely wrote letters to the Union Minister without seeking a re-transfer of administrative control or pursuing criminal action against contractors. It also highlighted that a CSIR-Central Road Research Institute report from July 2025 took nearly a year to be submitted, noting that recurring defects shortly after certified completion raised grave doubts regarding contractor selection diligence.
“There is also a distinct possibility of officials of NHIDCL colluding with the EPC contractor/s as it appears that the NHIDCL shown a lot of leniency towards the EPC contractor/s for whatever reason by giving him repeated extensions… We are baffled as to why the NHIDCL was waiting for the duration of time of almost one year for the said report, when it has competent Engineering staff on it’s rolls, who could have speeded up the repair work using their expertise before the next monsoon season again commenced in April, 2026”, it noted.
While giving directions, the Bench said, “As the Highway stretches dealt with above are in a poor motorable condition putting lives of travelers thereon to risk and the NHIDCL has failed to discharge the duty of care expected of it, and a large amount of tax payer’s money has been utilized to pay the EPC Contractors by the NHIDCL…”.
Invoking principles of institutional accountability from Supreme Court rulings in Vijay Rajmohan v. CBI (2023) 1 SCC 329 and Yash Developers v. Harihar Krup Coop. Society (2024) 9 SCC 606, the Bench stressed the need for a systemic audit into NHAI and NHIDCL due to a broader pattern of newly built national highways rapidly disintegrating.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on September 22, 2026.
Cause Title: Court on its own motion v. Union of India & Ors., WP(C)(PIL) No. 06 of 2026
Appearances:
None appeared for the Court on its own motion.
Respondent: S.M. Chakraborti, Advocate General, B.N. Majumder, Senior Advocate, Bidyut Majumder, Deputy Solicitor General of India, Rajib Saha and Pinki Chakraborty, Advocates.