Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that poor highway maintenance by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) led to a fatal accident near Guwahati on August 30.

Four people died on the spot after a minibus collided with a truck at Tetelia in the Kamrup Metropolitan district. Three others later succumbed to their injuries.

“The public claimed that potholes on the National Highway caused the accident. The police, in their investigation, found that poor maintenance by the NHAI was responsible for this unfortunate accident,” the Chief Minister said after visiting the site on Monday, August 31, 2026.

He said that the NHAI awarded the road maintenance work to a contractor who failed to carry out the work properly. He also mentioned that Chief Secretary Ravi Kota spoke with the NHAI chairperson after the accident.

“The chairperson assured the State government that repairs would be undertaken immediately and that maintenance work would be monitored more closely in the future,” the Chief Minister said, insisting that the government would take action to prevent such accidents.

He also announced a compensation of ₹5 lakh for the family of each person killed in the accident.

Soon after the accident, angry locals stopped operations at the Nazirakhat toll plaza, which is close to the accident site.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi also criticised the condition of Assam’s national highways, alleging that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was collecting tolls while failing to provide safe roads.

“I have continued to say that the state of national highways in Assam is quite poor, especially from Guwahati to Tinsukia. People are being given potholes, injuries, accidents, and animals crossing the highway in return for the money collected at the toll gates,” he said.

Mr. Gogoi further stated that taxpayers’ money was being wasted through a “Minister-contractor nexus”.