Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, concerned over the many complaints about poor maintenance of national highways during the monsoon, has directed his ministry to conduct a comprehensive study of both the Sohna-Vadodara section of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and the Amritsar-Jamnagar Expressway. He has directed the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) to conduct the study at the earliest.

In a separate directive, Gadkari also directed the ministry to look into the maintenance issues of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE), which serves as a bypass for Delhi. He cited his recent experience of driving along the 135-km-long expressway during a plantation drive.

Gadkari stressed the need to hold those responsible accountable and called for strictest action against them. Sources said the minister is actively investigating such cases, especially after recent incidents.

Just days before the plantation events, reports surfaced of a section of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway collapsing in Rajasthan, as well as a large hole in the newly built Amritsar-Jamnagar Economic Corridor. In response, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) imposed a fine of Rs 5 million on the contractor for failing to rectify the defects in a timely manner, and two engineers from the Authority Engineer (AE) were dismissed for lack of supervision and lapses. Similar action was taken against contractors, engineers and officials involved in the Sohna-Mumbai Expressway.

During the plantation event, Gadkari warned that negligence and poor maintenance of highways would not be tolerated and that both domestic and foreign contractors responsible for such would be blacklisted.