The Gurugram-Sohna Highway developed a fresh road cavity on Monday, forcing the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Gurugram traffic police to barricade one of its three lanes and slow traffic on a corridor that has now suffered seven such failures in three years.
The latest damage was reported near the SD Adarsh School, in the section between Sheeshpal Vihar Society and Subhash Chowk. A cavity measuring about 2.5 to 3 feet wide formed above a major sewer line located 22 to 25 feet below the road. NHAI officials, traffic police personnel and representatives of the company that constructed the highway reached the site after the damage was reported.
The affected lane was closed to traffic as a precaution. The closure reduced the highway’s operating capacity and led to slower movement during the evening peak, causing inconvenience to motorists and raising concerns about the risk of accidents. The highway connects traffic from Delhi to the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway.
The recurring damage has been linked to a sewer line laid around 30 years ago. The line carries sewage from Sectors 45 to 51 to the Behrampur sewage treatment plant. According to the report, the line is now in poor condition and runs directly below the highway, creating a continuing risk to the road surface whenever the underground network fails.
The same lane had been repaired and reopened roughly one-and-a-half months before the latest incident. The earlier failure occurred on 6 May, after which repair work began in August. The road was reopened for traffic after about four months, but the lane subsided again soon afterwards.
The highway has reportedly sunk seven times since 2024. The earlier incidents were recorded on 18 June, 30 June, 2 July and 24 December in 2024; 18 June in 2025; and 6 May 2026, followed by the latest failure. The highway was built at a reported cost of around Rs 2,000 crore.
The repeated failures have also exposed delays and rising costs in repairing the sewer infrastructure beneath the road. The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority prepared an estimate of around Rs 20 crore in July 2024 for repairing the damaged sewer line using the cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) method. A bidder quoted 35% above the estimated amount, after which the tender was cancelled following discussion at a high-level meeting chaired by the chief minister.
A subsequent decision assigned the repair work to NHAI, with the cost to be borne by the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority. NHAI has prepared a revised estimate of around Rs 58 crore, which the authority has approved.
Yogesh Tilak, NHAI project director, said the permanent repair would begin soon and be completed by February. He said the sewer line would be repaired using the CIPP method and that the method would prevent further damage to the line and stop the road from sinking. Until that work is completed, the latest barricading remains the immediate traffic-safety measure on the affected stretch.
