The Department of Roads has requested the National Vigilance Centre to investigate after sections of the upgraded highway developed subsidence, cracks and waterlogging, raising questions over construction quality and project supervision. About 93 per cent of the 113-kilometre highway has been completed, and vehicles are already using the road. Bikash Khanal, information officer of the Butwal-Narayanghat Road Project (West), said about 700 metres of road between Bardaghat and Daunne has subsided and is currently being repaired with earth filling. He attributed the defects to uniform road design despite varying soil conditions, premature blacktopping, overloaded vehicles and the absence of concrete pavement in vulnerable sections. A senior ministry engineer, however, questioned the project’s quality, claiming the road was not built according to design specifications.