Landslide Shuts Pune-Mumbai Link for 18 Hours

Major landslide on the Pune-Mumbai Missing Link caused an eighteen-hour traffic shutdown.

PUNE: A major landslide shut down the Missing Link (now ‘Connecting Link’ ) between Pune and Mumbai on Monday, with traffic to Mumbai returning to normal only by 10pm, nearly 18 hours after the incident. The landslide, which occurred around 4am, sent nearly 100 tonnes of mud and rock crashing down onto the road in front of tunnel 2 on the Pune-to-Mumbai corridor, officials said, adding that all vehicular movement had to be immediately shut down. The Mumbai to Pune corridor was reopened shortly after safety checks, but the opposite lane - to Mumbai - took hours to clear. CM Devendra Fadnavis said the spot on the Mumbai-Pune highway where the landslide occurred received rainfall three times the average - nearly 625mm within 24 hours, according to officials. “This caused a massive amount of soil debris to slide down. Over 100 tonnes of debris came down onto the road, an incident that has never happened before,” he said. MSRDC officials said it has now decided to consult with IIT-Bombay for a “technical assessment” of the Missing Link, to boost safety measures. “We will send them videos from the site, drone imagery and all other technical details. Once we have their report, we will take immediate corrective measures,” said MSRDC joint managing director Rajesh Patil.

CM Devendra Fadnavis said the landslide sent nearly 100 tonnes of mud and rock crashing down onto the road in front of Tunnel 2 of the Missing Link (now Connecting Link)

As a precautionary measure, Patil added that a detailed inspection of the slope above the tunnel was underway to check for loose rock or debris. MSRDC vice-chairman and managing director Anilkumar Gaikwad ruled out structural damage to the tunnel. “This was purely an act of God and a natural calamity. The rainfall in this area was unprecedented,” Gaikwad said. He clarified that the damage was limited to the portal frame, a non-structural architectural element at the tunnel entrance. “The tunnel lining has not suffered any damage. The cable-stayed bridge is also intact. There is absolutely no structural damage,” he added. Superintendent of police (HSP), Shivaji Pawar, said a massive boulder was found where the landslide hit. “We think it weighs around 20 tonnes. We used a crane to move it. It struck a portion of the tunnel which was just for decoration so there was no impact on the main structure,” Pawar said.

Emergency personnel clear rubble from the site of the landslide near Missing Link. Through its X handle, MSRDC on Monday urged commuters to avoid non-essential travel

The Missing Link, inaugurated on May 1, is a 13-km engineering-intensive stretch featuring India’s widest road tunnel and a cable-stayed bridge. It was built to bypass the accident-prone ghat section and to reduce travel distance to Mumbai by nearly 5. 7km and travel time by 20-25 minutes. The project needed extensive slope stabilisation and uses advanced monitoring systems due to the difficult terrain. “The rainfall was extremely heavy,” Patil said. “We now need to ensure additional corrective measures for the remaining two months of the monsoon. We will await IIT Bombay’s recommendations and implement them immediately,” he said, adding that MSRDC also plans to intensify checks along slopes and near tunnel approaches over the course of the monsoon. Through its X handle, MSRDC on Monday urged commuters to avoid non-essential travel, especially if there is an alert for intense rainfall along the route. “Public safety remains our highest priority,” the message stated. (With inputs from Gitesh Shelke)