Overview
- A section of the under-construction Mevaram–Kadampattukonam stretch at Mylakkadu gave way, gouging large craters in the service road and stopping traffic on the Thiruvananthapuram–Kollam corridor as diversions were set up.
- Roughly 500 metres of road subsided and several vehicles, including a school bus carrying about 30 children, were evacuated without injury.
- The project, executed by Shivalaya Construction Ltd, includes extensive reinforced-earth walls that residents argue are ill-suited to paddy-field terrain and waterlogging, urging pillar-supported designs instead.
- Kerala PWD Minister P. A. Mohammad Riyas ordered a detailed probe and sought a report from NHAI, and a senior NHAI official visited the site, requested a detailed report and denied poor supervision.
- Congress leaders accused NHAI and state authorities of negligence and cited a similar embankment failure on NH-66 in Malappuram earlier this year to question oversight and construction methods.