A landslide at the entry point of the newly opened Missing Link section on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway has triggered a fresh political controversy in Maharashtra, with the opposition questioning the quality of the project and the ruling Mahayuti government defending the construction.
The incident occurred on Monday when nearly 100 tonnes of soil and debris came crashing onto the road, forcing authorities to shut traffic in both the Mumbai- and Pune-bound directions throughout the day. The landslide came just days after the Missing Link was opened to traffic. Earlier, reports of potholes on the newly inaugurated stretch had also raised concerns over the quality of the project.
Opposition leaders accused the Mahayuti government of poor execution and questioned the standards of what had been projected as an “engineering marvel.”
Amid the political sparring, Sandeep Deshpande of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena also joined the debate with a sarcastic social media post.
Mocking the BJP’s frequent criticism of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Deshpande wrote that Nehru was “responsible” for the Missing Link landslide as well, adding that, by the same logic, anyone criticising the government should be sent to Pakistan.
His remarks were widely seen as a jibe at the ruling alliance’s tendency to blame Nehru for present-day issues.
The criticism was directed at Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who rejected the allegations, attributing the incident to unprecedented rainfall and changing weather patterns rather than construction flaws.
Responding to the controversy, Fadnavis said the state administration had taken all necessary precautions but that extreme weather conditions had led to unexpected incidents. He stated that the landslide occurred at a location where no such incident had been recorded before.
According to him, authorities immediately halted and diverted traffic from both sides of the expressway to ensure public safety, while government agencies remained on high alert.
By around 11 p.m. on Monday, the Chief Minister shared a video on social media showing the debris removal operation and announced that the road had been cleared and traffic on the Missing Link had resumed.
