Heavy rainfall over the past two days triggered waterlogging and seepage inside India's first eight-lane road tunnel running beneath the Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve in Kota, causing traffic congestion and commuter inconvenience, and officials acknowledged shortcomings in the pre-assessment of its design. The four point nine-kilometre Mukundara Hills Tunnel forms a crucial link in the 1,386-km Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, which is being built at Rs 950 billion (Rs 950 bn). The tunnel was opened on a trial basis to all vehicles on July 27 and this represents its first rainy season since completion. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) project director in Kota, Sandeep Agrawal, attributed the problem primarily to insufficient pumping capacity and said the quantum of seepage was high and the installed equipment proved inadequate for the conditions. He stated that the current installed capacity across the tunnel is 260 horsepower, with an additional 130 horsepower on standby, and that additional pumps are being deployed to extract accumulated water. Agrawal described the issue as technical in nature and said it would be rectified with higher capacity equipment. Local police officers said efforts were underway to clear the water and manage traffic, which was severely impacted for one and a half hours, while engineers worked on site to restore normal movement. Officers added that vehicles were being allowed one by one to keep traffic moving and that water had not flooded the entire four point nine-kilometre length but had accumulated to one to two feet heavily along a stretch of over one kilometre in the middle. They said the heavy ongoing rains had increased seepage from the forest above and contributed to the severity of the incident. According to NHAI officials, the tunnel, costing around Rs 125 million (Rs 125 mn), was constructed beneath the tiger reserve to avoid disturbing wildlife movement and to preserve the forest ecosystem. The design permits animals to move freely above the structure and is cited as a national example of integrating transport infrastructure with environmental conservation.