Traffic on the Mumbai-Pune expressway was stopped on Monday after a landslide blocked the route.

The traffic on the old Mumbai-Pune highway was also stopped because of a landslide and heavy rainfall in the Karjat-Lonavala Bhor Ghat section, said the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation. No casualties were reported.

The incidents occurred amid heavy rainfall since Friday that disrupted normal life in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and its surrounding areas. Rain-related incidents have left 13 dead in the past three to four days in Mumbai and the neighbouring Palghar and Raigad districts, state Disaster Management Minister Girish Mahajan told the Legislative Council on Monday.

Videos posted on social media from the Mumbai-Pune expressway showed debris blocking the carriageway between the opening of the tunnel and the cable-stayed bridge located in the “Missing Link” section.

While the expressway has been operational since 2002, the 13.3-km Missing Link, which bypasses the Khandala Ghat and was built at a cost of Rs 7,000 crore, was inaugurated on May 1.

Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that efforts were underway to clear the debris and reopen the expressway. “However, continuous rainfall and gusty winds are posing some challenges to these efforts,” Shinde said on social media.

The minister, who holds the urban development and public undertakings portfolios, urged citizens to exercise caution and avoid non-essential travel between Mumbai and Pune.

It was unclear if the highway had been reopened for traffic.

The incident led to criticism from social media users and Opposition leaders.

Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Aaditya Thackeray said that the cost of the Missing Link project “has been escalated by thousands of crores” and that it has had a “landslide and much more within two months of its checks” and inaugurations.

“More so, using it while on the way to Pune and back, I noticed and stated publicly also that not even 50 ft of the road is flat,” Thackeray said on social media. “It is all undulated and feels like one is sitting in a boat, riding the waves.”

On Saturday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis sought to downplay the appearance of potholes in the Missing Link. He said that “durability of the work is tested” during initial rainfall and “possible problems that could crop up are assessed”.

Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Rohit Pawar asked on social media, “potholes were dug on the Missing Link for durability checks, so has a landslide occurred today for durability checks?”

“Due to only the link of brokerage and corruption emerging in the Missing Link’s work, even safety has gone missing,” Pawar said. “In the last four-five days, the rains from Pune to Mumbai have exposed the hollow claims of this corrupt government, revealing the dark deeds of this corrupt government.”

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena asked if precautionary measures were not provided considering that the incident occurred in a landslide-prone area.

“...What’s the purpose behind starting public travel and then conducting testing?” the Opposition party asked. “You took the credit, but will you now take responsibility for this negligence?”

A social media user posted: “We can keep blaming rains all we want but if we don’t build infra keeping that in mind – then the blame is on us.”

Mumbai region red alert

At least eight persons died in rain-related incidents in Mumbai on Sunday.

On Monday, a red alert was in place in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts. Intense spells of rain with gusty winds reaching 50 km per hour to 60 km per hour were very likely in isolated places, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said.

Waterlogging was reported in Andheri on Monday morning.

Schools in Mumbai, Pune, Thane and Navi Mumbai will be closed on Monday amid the red alert.

Trains between Mumbai and Pune were suspended on Monday amid the heavy rainfall and landslides in the ghat section, the Central Railways said. Sixteen trains had been cancelled and nine diverted.

Local trains in Mumbai had also been delayed. The services between Karjat and Khopoli had been suspended after the heavy rainfall led to the ballast getting washed-out.

Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.