Kasaragod/New Delhi: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has debarred Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Ltd (MEIL) -- building two stretches of NH 66 in Kasaragod and Kannur -- from future tenders. NHAI is also considering a ₹9 crore fine over the shoddy construction of a slope protection wall on the 37-km reach between Chengala and Nileshwar in Kasaragod.

The action came a day after a protection wall collapsed at Thekkil near Chengala. To widen the highway, MEIL had cut through a laterite hill, leaving a steep exposed slope beside the road. Typically, such slopes are stabilised using retaining walls and proper drainage systems to prevent erosion. But in this case, MEIL reportedly sprayed a thin film of cement to hold back the hill, residents said. The slope caved in on Monday following heavy rain.

"The incident was caused due to improper design, inadequate slope protection works, and poor drainage system," said NHAI in a press statement on Tuesday, June 17. It added that MEIL was debarred for failing to ensure slope stability and drainage to mitigate such risks.

Under its 15-year Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) contract, MEIL was responsible for maintaining the road and its structures. Now, it has been directed to reconstruct the collapsed slope at its own cost. A show-cause notice has also been issued, asking why the firm should not be debarred for one year and fined ₹9 crore.

An expert committee -- comprising a senior scientist from the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), a retired IIT-Palakkad professor, and a geologist from the Geological Survey of India (GSI) — has been formed to inspect the site and review the highway's design and construction. The panel will also recommend remedial measures, it said.

This is the second blacklisting by NHAI in less than a month. On May 22, it debarred KNR Constructions Ltd, another Hyderabad-based firm, from all ongoing and future projects after a section of road collapsed at Kooriyad in Malappuram, on the 55-km Ramanattukara-Kuttippuram stretch of NH 66. The collapse was blamed on KNR’s failure to assess soil strength and improve ground conditions before construction.

MEIL, which is also building the 40-km Nileshwar–Taliparamba stretch, was the second-largest buyer of electoral bonds, donating ₹966 crore to political parties: ₹585 crore to the BJP, ₹195 crore to the then-ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana, and ₹85 crore to the DMK.

Cracks, cave-ins, and flooding have been reported along the Chengala-Taliparamba corridor, especially in areas near Taliparamba and in the Kasaragod district. Earlier, on May 12, an 18-year-old worker of MEIL, Mumtaj Mir from West Bengal, was killed at Mattalayi in Cheruvathur, Kasaragod, while fixing shuttering plates for a retaining wall. The vertically sliced hill collapsed at the base, burying him. Two other workers, Mohan Thejar (18) and Munlal Laskar (55), also from West Bengal, were trapped waist-deep and sustained leg fractures.

On October 29, 2022, 13 MEIL construction workers had a narrow escape when a vehicle underpass under construction collapsed at Periya. The construction was part of the NH 66 widening. The workers, atop a 6-metre-high stage, were pouring in pumpable concrete to make the slab when the supporting pipes underneath gave away.
The state’s Mining and Geology Department had earlier fined MEIL ₹75 crore for illegal laterite mining from Veeramala Kunnu, near Cheruvathur -- an area that, along with Mattalayi, regularly witnesses landslips due to unscientific hill cutting for highway construction.