It seems India’s infrastructure collapse is quickening like never before. Consider three snapshots from three states taken over a fortnight. The middle section of a 3-year-old bridge collapsed in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli, cutting off several villages. In Uttarakhand, the approach road to a bridge over the Tons caved in 17 days after inauguration. And in Uttar Pradesh, toll collection on a new highway between Lucknow and Kanpur was suspended only 13 days after opening after a section subsided. Together, these projects account for thousands of crores in public funds—yet there is no clear accountability pinned on any senior government official. Road and bridge failures will continue to be one of the biggest drains for Indian governments unless we go after corruption in their construction at all levels.
