National Highway-53 section collapses in Odisha

A 100-metre stretch of the under-construction National Highway-53 caved in near Nilachal Bazaar in Odisha’s Kendrapada district on Sunday. The collapse, occurring during a period of heavy and incessant rainfall, caused three trucks parked along the site to plunge into a roadside ditch. No injuries or fatalities were reported as the vehicles were unoccupied at the time.

The affected section is part of a major rebuilding and widening project intended to link Paradip Port with mineral-rich areas in Jajpur. Local residents have raised concerns regarding the quality of the construction, alleging that substandard materials and inadequate soil support contributed to the failure. Some locals claimed that rainwater seeped through a fly-ash layer, washing away the supporting soil.

A senior official from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Bhubaneswar Regional Office attributed the incident to prolonged water stagnation caused by continuous rain. The official also noted that the three trucks had been parked on the incomplete stretch without authorization, despite warnings that the construction site was barricaded and closed to the public.