In Tripura, a freshly laid national highway section near Manikbhandar achieved total structural failure faster than most Indian infrastructure achieves completion. Residents who flagged the problem during construction were told to wait.
The section of National Highway 208 connecting Erarpaar to Manikbhandar under Kamalpur subdivision in Tripura was supposed to be finished infrastructure. Within two months of completion, it was riddled with potholes and uneven surfaces — a death trap during rainfall when water pooled in the depressions. Locals say they raised concerns about unscientific construction during the work itself and were ignored every time. NHIDCL — the central body overseeing national highways in the Northeast — constituted an expert team after the Tripura CM personally wrote to the Centre. The team visited, was expected to submit a report, and the NHIDCL MD ordered contractors to repair their own damage by October. So a road that could not be built correctly is now waiting to be corrected by the same contractors who could not build it correctly.