A road in Indore, constructed at a cost of Rs 40 crore, collapsed during the testing of a newly installed 24-hour water supply pipeline. The road, built around three years ago under the Smart City project, suffered significant damage as water began gushing through cracks in the surface.
CCTV footage capturing the incident has gone viral on social media. The video shows the road suddenly giving way, with water bursting out at high pressure through the cracks. Vehicles and pedestrians nearby were seen quickly moving away after the collapse.
The incident has raised questions about the quality of construction and the technical standards followed during the road's development. Concerns have also emerged over whether the road can withstand heavy monsoon rainfall, sustained traffic and future utility-related work if its structure was compromised during a pipeline pressure test.
Rajendra Rathore, an Indore Municipal Corporation member and head of its Information Committee, has called for a high-level inquiry into the project. He alleged that several Smart City projects worth around Rs 1,000 crore have faced questions regarding construction quality.
Rathore claimed that he had earlier raised concerns about the quality of the work with the then mayor and municipal commissioner, but said the response was limited to issuing notices. He further alleged that the road had undergone multiple repairs despite being completed only a few years ago.
Rathore has written to the Prime Minister’s Office, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Urban Development Minister Kailash Vijayvargiya, seeking an independent investigation.
For now, the municipal corporation and the agency responsible for the construction will need to repair the affected section and determine the extent of the structural damage.
A detailed technical investigation is expected to establish the cause of the collapse and determine whether construction defects or engineering failures contributed to the incident.
