Fatalities Mount on Kerala's National Highway 66: Union Minister Reveals 23 Deaths

The ongoing projects on National Highway 66 in Kerala have turned fatal for 23 people, including one road user, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari told the Lok Sabha on Thursday. Gadkari provided a list of these 23 deaths to Mavelikkara MP Kodikunnil Suresh. The analysis of the data shows that at least 22 of these were construction workers. Out of the 23 deaths, 11 were reported in 2025—almost one every month. Five deaths were reported in 2024 and seven in the years before, including three from 2023. District-wise, Kannur and Kollam reported five deaths each, followed by Alappuzha with five (including one road user), Kasaragod with four, Thrissur with three, and Kozhikode with one. The list shows that the latest deaths were reported in November 2025—one construction worker died on November 11 in Kollam, and a road user died two days later on November 13 in Alappuzha. In October 2025, two workers were killed—one on October 20 in Alappuzha and another on October 25 in Kollam. The minister informed the House that road safety audits found non-adherence to traffic management and work zone safety norms at several stretches. Audits flagged lapses in barricading, signage, diversion planning, road surface conditions, worker safety, and nighttime visibility. Almost 650 km of National Highway 66—stretching from Panvel in Maharashtra to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu—falls in Kerala, passing through Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Thrissur, Ernakulam (Kochi), Alappuzha, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram. NH-66 is the longest National Highway passing through Kerala, running along the state’s western coastal corridor. Last year, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor had also raised the issue, saying at least 40 accidents have been reported, from 80-tonne concrete girders collapsing on vehicles in Eramalloor to beam collapses on the Aroor-Thuravoor service road to a section of the entire NH 66 collapsing. In December 2025, News18 reported that the work on the 422-km National Highway-66 corridor is expected to be fully completed by August 2026. Gadkari cited additional works, material shortages, financial constraints of concessionaires and contractors, and an extended monsoon period as key reasons for the delay in completing NH-66. The fatalities come even as Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee flagged accountability concerns in multi-layered subcontracting and an expert panel pointed to weak soil conditions in several stretches—raising questions over oversight in one of Kerala’s largest highway projects.