Four killed on Dehradun highway; FIR filed against NHAI, PWD

• Four killed as car collides with container truck at Mohabbewala Chowk.

• FIR flags unsafe road design, missing signage and inadequate lighting.

• NHAI faces wider scrutiny over highway failures, including on Delhi-Dehradun corridor.

Dehradun Police have registered an FIR against the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Uttarakhand Public Works Department (PWD) following a road accident that claimed four lives on the Asharodi-Mohabbewala stretch in Dehradun.

The action has brought the spotlight on alleged lapses in highway construction and road safety under the BJP-led Uttarakhand government, with police officials pointing out that more than 10 accidents have occurred on the stretch in the past six months.

The police complaint alleges that the agencies responsible for executing the newly constructed National Highway (NH)-72A (Delhi-Dehradun-Paonta) failed to ensure safe traffic movement. It describes the construction work as unsafe and says the deficiencies pose a continuing threat to commuters.

The FIR specifically flags the road design at Mohabbewala, where a sudden sharp curve combined with a steep gradient reportedly creates confusion among motorists, making the stretch particularly accident-prone. According to the complaint, the stretch has witnessed multiple accidents resulting in fatalities and injuries.

The police have also pointed to the absence of basic road safety infrastructure, including signboards, traffic signs, reflectors, warning signals and adequate lighting at night. The road markings are allegedly inadequate, while potholes along the roadside have further compounded the danger.

'There is a lack of essential safety infrastructure, including signboards, traffic signs, reflectors, warning signals, and adequate nighttime lighting. The road is not clearly marked. Furthermore, the presence of potholes along the roadside is consistently leading to accidents,' the FIR states. A copy of the complaint is with PTI.

Police officials said there was considerable public resentment over the alleged negligence of the executing agencies, adding that repeated requests to address the safety concerns had failed to elicit concrete action.

“Although the agencies have been contacted and formally requested on several occasions to implement measures to prevent such accidents, they have failed to take any concrete action to ensure safe traffic flow or mitigate the risks. The unsafe construction work poses a continuous threat to the lives of the public,” said Ankit Kandari, circle officer, Sadar.

The police have invoked Sections 125(a) and 125(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deal with acts endangering human life or personal safety, and registered a case under the relevant provisions.

The FIR follows a horrific accident on Wednesday afternoon, when a car collided with a container truck at Mohabbewala Chowk. The car was crushed beneath the truck, trapping five occupants, including a six-year-old boy and two women. While police managed to rescue the child, the other four occupants died.

Delhi-Dehradun corridor itself faces safety questions

The latest accident comes amid wider concerns over the quality of highway construction and safety oversight by NHAI. Significantly, the Delhi-Dehradun Economic Corridor, of which the Dehradun stretch forms a part of the wider infrastructure network, also came under scrutiny in July after a section of the newly constructed road caved in near Gogwan Jalalpur in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district following overnight rainfall.

The cave-in, reported on 1 July, was attributed by NHAI to localised water stagnation and the failure to commission the permanent cross-drainage system at the site. In a clarification issued the following day, the authority said it had repaired the damaged section and was constructing an interim drain, while permanent drainage and slope-protection work remained pending. The incident raised questions about the preparedness of a major highway corridor inaugurated only months earlier.

The concerns are not confined to the Delhi-Dehradun project. A parliamentary disclosure in August revealed that 48 cases of collapses, structural failures and major deficiencies had been reported on National Highway projects between 2021 and 2026. Nineteen of these incidents occurred in 2025 and 2026 alone. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways attributed the failures to factors including poor workmanship, faulty design and inadequate supervision.

The reported incidents included damaged bridge foundations, collapsed retaining walls, toppled girders, premature pavement failures and defects in culverts and elevated road structures. A separate parliamentary response listed 22 deaths associated with failures across the 48 projects, underscoring the human cost of deficiencies in highway construction and oversight.

NHAI faces scrutiny from parliamentary panel

NHAI's functioning also came under sharp criticism at a meeting of Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in July. Members across party lines questioned the authority over rising road accidents, recurring landslides, inadequate drainage, poor project planning and concerns surrounding toll collection.

Among those raising concerns was BJP MP Anurag Thakur, who flagged the condition of highways in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. He reportedly questioned the scientific basis of road construction in the hill states, pointing to unstable slopes that had been left unsecured and were contributing to frequent landslides.

The criticism from within the ruling party is particularly significant given the repeated concerns over highway infrastructure in Uttarakhand, a state where difficult terrain, steep gradients and extreme weather make construction standards and safety measures especially critical.

With PTI inputs