Road Cave-ins In Bhubaneswar, Puri Raise Fresh Concerns Over Construction Quality
In Bhubaneswar, panic gripped commuters after a section of the busy Garage Square–Ravi Talkies road suddenly caved in, leaving behind a crater about five to six feet deep. A motorcyclist had a narrow escape as the road gave way beneath him, eyewitnesses said
Bhubaneswar: Two separate road cave-ins in Odisha on Sunday—one in the state capital and another in Puri district—have raised fresh concerns over the quality of road infrastructure and construction standards.
In Bhubaneswar, panic gripped commuters after a section of the busy Garage Square–Ravi Talkies road suddenly caved in, leaving behind a crater about five to six feet deep. A motorcyclist had a narrow escape as the road gave way beneath him, eyewitnesses said.
The collapse disrupted traffic on the arterial stretch, with police rushing to the spot to cordon off the affected area and regulate vehicular movement. Witnesses said the cave-in exposed what appeared to be a hollow cavity beneath the asphalt, fuelling speculation about underground erosion or structural failure. Officials are expected to conduct a technical inspection before undertaking restoration work.
In a similar incident in Puri district, a newly constructed road collapsed near Deuli village under Balanga, causing a sand-laden Hyva truck to overturn. The driver escaped unhurt.
According to local residents, the truck had halted on the newly laid Balanga-Haripur road when the surface suddenly gave way beneath the vehicle. They alleged that the 10-km stretch, reportedly built at a cost of around Rs 22 crore, developed a major cave-in barely a month after completion, raising serious questions over the quality of construction.
Adding to the irony, villagers claimed the overturned truck was being used by the same contractor who had executed the road project.
“The truck was parked on the newly constructed road, but within minutes the surface collapsed beneath it. The incident exposes the poor quality of construction,” a local resident alleged.
The back-to-back incidents triggered demands for an independent inquiry into the quality of road construction and stricter accountability for contractors. While residents questioned the use of materials and execution standards, officials are yet to determine the exact causes of the cave-ins. No statement had been issued by the public works department or the contractor till the filing of this report.
