Where Were the Real Engineers When NH-66 Crumbled?

Oh how we strutted down NH-66 at Kooriyad Kerala chests puffed with pride degrees in hand dreaming of grand highways! Me included just another starry-eyed civil engineer dazzled by the likes of KNR Constructions and NHAI. We were in a fantasy were we not? Convinced that big names and bigger budgets could defy gravity soil and apparently common sense. The collapse of that under-construction stretch on May 19 2025 was not a tragedy it was a sarcastic slap from reality.

Soil analysis? Please. A first-year student could have told you that Kooriyad's marshy paddy-field ground soaked by Kerala's 6 to 8 month monsoon would not hold that embankment's deadweight once water seeped in. Yet we all nodded along hypnotized by "soil nailing" jargon and fancy RE walls. Where were the real engineers? The ones with the guts to say "This will fail"? Were we too busy polishing LinkedIn profiles or chasing project deadlines to question the basics?

And let us not kid ourselves everyone's an "engineer" these days but where is the spine to critically analyze a structure? NHAI's suspended project directors and sacked site engineers are just scapegoats. The rot runs deeper: shoddy oversight ignored soil tests and a parliamentary panel screaming about design flaws before the collapse. We knew Kerala's soil was tricky yet we built like we were in a desert. Bravo us.

But let us tip our hats to Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society Ltd (ULCCS Ltd) for their stellar work on the 39-km Talapady to Chengala stretch of NH-66 in Kasaragod. While others faltered their section nears completion a testament to quality and diligence. We need to study their approach: how did they navigate Kerala's terrain where others tripped? A detailed study of ULCCS’s methods alongside Kooriyad’s failures is urgent to prevent future disasters.

The media? Oh they have turned this into a political circus dodging the real issue: our collective failure to prioritize competence over confidence. So what is lacking? Courage to call out bad plans. Humility to double-check the obvious. And a system that does not let "big establishments" skate by on reputation.

Here is the kicker: we cannot just shrug and move on. We need to roll up our sleeves and proactively engage in every ongoing construction. Scrutinize it through the lens of environment: will it survive Kerala's rains? Cost: can we afford shortcuts? Time: are we rushing to disaster? Practicality: does it even make sense for the terrain? There is space for real engineers to step up to demand better to build smarter.

Let us stop fantasizing and start questioning. The next collapse will not be kind enough to just injure a few. Who is ready to be an actual engineer?