BENGALURU: Traffic movement on National Highway-44 (Bengaluru-Hosur Road) was disrupted on Wednesday after a 100-metre stretch near Attibele caved in owing to partial soil collapse on the main carriageway at a vehicular overpass (VOP) construction site, with authorities attributing the cause of the incident to constant heavy vehicular movement on the busy stretch.
The work, being carried out as part of accident-mitigation measures, identified four black spots. This VOP work began in April 2025 and involves deep excavation of over 10 metres, along with the construction of retaining walls. NHAI officials said backfilling and soil compaction were underway when the collapse occurred.
“The traffic intensity on NH 44 is extremely high, with heavy vehicles moving round the clock. Continuous vibrations have loosened the soil, leading to the collapse,” said Archana Dharma Kumar, General Manager (Technical) and Project Director, Bengaluru Expressway Project Implementation Unit.
She said there were no casualties. The affected stretch is only one of the three lanes of the main carriageway. Traffic continues to move through the remaining lanes and the adjacent service road.
“We are looking at about 15 days to complete the diversion works, considering the volume of traffic and constraints of working in a developed area,” she said, adding that progress of the VOP was slower due to uninterrupted traffic movement.
Police officials confirmed that the incident occurred between 6 am and 7 am and traffic movement was slow for around two hours. Normalcy on the NH-44 was restored after vehicles were diverted to the adjacent service road.