India, Jan. 31 -- This piece is provoked by the last few days of exposures and happenings which compelled me to pen my anguish. India's infrastructure crisis is not about engineering mistakes. It is about a system and a work culture that protects negligence and exposes the public to risk.

When a newly built flyover suddenly narrows, when a bridge shuts weeks after it is inaugurated, or when a freshly laid road disintegrates and leaves gaping holes, generally and before monsoons, the official explanation is always the same: a "technical failure." This phrase has become a convenient lie. Roads and bridges built by public works departments (PWDs) do not fail by accident. They fail because the system is designed to tolerate failure, and "fee...