Mumbai: Heavy monsoon rains triggered another landslide in Maharashtra on Tuesday after a portion of a hillside collapsed at the old Kasara Ghat on the Mumbai-Nashik Highway, disrupting traffic movement. The landslide sent soil, rocks and trees crashing onto the roadway, partially blocking the route and slowing vehicular movement through the ghat section.
Visuals from the site showed large boulders, mud and uprooted trees scattered across the highway, with vehicles moving cautiously through the affected stretch as police personnel monitored the situation.
Fortunately, no casualties were reported in the incident. Police and rescue teams rushed to the spot soon after receiving information and launched clearance operations. After removing the debris, authorities restored traffic through one lane while ensuring the safety of commuters.
The incident comes a day after a rain-triggered landslide forced the closure of the Pune-Mumbai Connecting Link Road on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway's Missing Link project for nearly 19 hours. Traffic on the corridor was finally restored at 10.10 pm on Monday after the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) completed extensive debris removal, engineering inspections and safety assessments.
The landslide near the entry of Tunnel 2 was reported at around 3 am on Monday after torrential overnight rainfall in the Lonavala region caused part of the hillside to collapse. Although the debris was cleared after nearly 14 hours of continuous operations, authorities delayed reopening the route due to persistent heavy rain, poor visibility, strong winds and the need for detailed structural inspections.
According to MSRDC, heavy machinery was deployed to clear the debris and clean the affected carriageway, while technical experts inspected Tunnel 2 and the adjoining hillside to ensure no loose rocks or unstable material remained. Drone-based surveys were also attempted but were hampered by dense fog, heavy rainfall and strong winds.
The corporation said traffic was restored only after all mandatory safety and technical assessments confirmed that the route was safe for motorists, stressing that commuter safety remained the top priority amid the ongoing spell of heavy monsoon rainfall across Maharashtra.
