Live: Mumbai, Pune schools and colleges shut today as IMD warns of more heavy rain
Major relief has come for commuters on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway, with authorities reopening two lanes of the Missing Link section nearly 18 to 19 hours
Major relief has come for commuters on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway, with authorities reopening two lanes of the Missing Link section nearly 18 to 19 hours after it was shut following a rain-triggered landslide. Traffic from Pune towards Mumbai has now resumed through the Missing Link. The stretch was closed around 3 am on Monday after continuous rainfall triggered a mud and rockslide near the end of the Missing Link, dumping large amounts of debris onto the carriageway.
As a precaution, authorities immediately suspended traffic on the affected stretch. No casualties or vehicle damage were reported. Highway police and other agencies launched an extensive debris-clearing operation, restoring traffic on the main expressway lanes within a few hours. However, the closure of the Missing Link diverted thousands of vehicles onto the old Mumbai-Pune highway, leading to long traffic jams and significant delays.
Following several hours of round-the-clock clearance work, authorities removed the debris and reopened two lanes of the Missing Link to traffic. While vehicular movement from Pune to Mumbai has returned to normal, motorists have been advised to drive cautiously and check weather and traffic updates as heavy rain continues across the region.
(Inputs by Hrikrushna Jagannath Panchal)
The BriefWire