Urban infrastructure fails: Why India’s ₹100 crore projects keep failing

India Today

A newly widened ₹100 crore highway in Bihar has gone viral — not for its speed or safety, but because fully grown trees are standing right in the middle of the road.

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00:00This is the Patna Gaya road in Bihar's Jehanabad district, which was widened as part of a 100 crore

00:05rupee project. It has several full-grown trees standing in the middle of it. In Lucknow, a 74

00:10crore railway overbridge was meant to ease congestion between Krishnanagar and Kesari

00:15Kheda. Construction started in February 2024. By June, 75% was done until a two-story house stood

00:22in its path. Authorities said they couldn't demolish it because land acquisition issues

00:26were unresolved. Across Bengaluru, electric poles have been found standing tall, right

00:31in the middle of roads. A viral photo from Sarjapur Road led netizens to nickname one, the Eiffel

00:36Tower of Bengaluru. In Ghopal, a 18 crore overbridge was meant to improve traffic flow. Instead,

00:42it became famous for its right-angle turn. Engineers defended the design, saying land constraints

00:48force the sharp bend. But should 90-degree turns ever exist on high-speed urban infrastructure?

00:53A survey by the Central Road Research Institute warns that sudden turns on elevated structures

00:58pose a major safety hazard, especially at night. In Satna, Madhya Pradesh, engineers built a road,

01:03but forgot or ignored a massive transformer. Meanwhile, in Penugonda, Andhra Pradesh, we got

01:08three sharp turns on one bridge, a triple-90 overpass so ambitious it out-viral even Bhopal.

01:15Now, all this shows a chronic lack of coordination. A 2021 audit by the CAG found that 38% of major

01:22infrastructure projects in India face delays due to land acquisition and utility shifting issues.

01:28Means aside, these errors cost money, they risk lives, and they undermine public trust in the

01:33system. Which viral infra fails shocked you the most? And if your city has a similar story,

01:38let us know in the comments below.

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