As rains continue to lash Maharashtra, the ‘Missing Link’, a recently launched stretch connecting Pune and Mumbai, has suffered a major impact. A landslide occurred near it during the early hours of Monday, forcing authorities to partially close it to traffic for several hours.
The landslide occurred near the exit of a major tunnel on the Mumbai-Pune road.
Videos spread on social media this morning of heavy flowing rainwater, silt and mud covering part of the stretch. The images also showed bulldozers deployed at the site, trying to clean the mud from the sprawl. Follow live updates on Mumbai rains here.
“While the rest of the connecting link remains intact, traffic has stopped only at the tunnel exit due to the landslide, and clearance operations are currently underway. The situation is expected to be resolved in the next 4-5 hours,” said Rakesh Sonawane, executive engineer of MSRDC.
All about the “missing link”, Oppen’s criticism of the government
Opposition leaders were quick to turn guns on the Maharashtra government after the landslide near the ‘missing link’, questioning the status of the project within months of its inauguration.
The project was inaugurated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in May this year and described it as an “engineering marvel” and an “iconic project”.
Developed by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), the ‘Missing Link’ is 13.3 km long and is said to have been built at a cost of 13.3 km. $7000 Crores. “The missing link between Mumbai and Pune is no longer missing!” said Fadnavis.
When the extension was inaugurated, Fadnavis said it could create economic value $70,000 crore, ten times the announced construction cost, by promoting investments, connectivity and industrial growth along the corridor.
Two tunnels, two bridges and a suspension bridge over the Tiger Valley form the ‘missing link’ and bypass the steep and accident-prone ghat section, as mentioned in an earlier HT report.
Soon after reports emerged that the ‘missing link’ had been partially closed due to the landslide, the opposition criticized the state government. “For all the ‘IR watchers and believers’, the cost of this link has escalated in thousands of crores. It has now witnessed a landslide and much more within 2 months of inspections and inauguration,” Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said in a tweet.
He also shared his experience of using the stretch of road on his way to Pune and back, and claimed that the road works were poor. “Using it while on the way to Pune and back, I noticed and also publicly stated that not even 50 feet of the road is flat. It’s all undulating and feels like one is sitting in a boat, riding the waves,” Thackeray’s tweet said.
His colleague Priyanka Chaturvedi also seemed to criticize the government as she shared a clip from after the landslide near the Mumbai-Pune link.
What happened to the “missing link”?
Rahul Vasaikar, chief engineer of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, said they learned about the landslide at around 3:15 am on Monday. He said their team inspected the connection and there was no structural damage.
“No one is trapped under the rubble. There was a huge mass of soil and stones that fell from a height of 150 feet above the tunnel. We are working to clear the landslide, but we are expecting more. The missing link will be restarted in four hours,” Vasaikar said this morning.
While the ‘missing link’ is partially closed for traffic, the Mumbai-Pune Expressway is completely closed. Work is underway to remove the rubble and movement can be restored within a few hours.
(With inputs from Yogesh Naik, Yogesh Joshi, Saurabh Kulshrishtha)
