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Mumbai-Pune Expressway shut days after launch as 700mm rain triggers landslide
The nearly Rs70 billion (Dh2.7 billion) tunnel sustained no structural damage, but access was cut off after a landslide damaged infrastructure at the entrance
- PUBLISHED: Tue 7 Jul 2026, 8:01 PM
The most ambitious infrastructure projects on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the 13.3-km-long ‘Missing Link’, one of the world’s widest underground tunnel and India’s tallest cable-stayed bridge, witnessed the first major challenge on Monday when nearly 700mm of rainfall saw landslides right outside the approach road, blocking movement of traffic for several hours.
The project, which took almost 30 years to be conceived and developed, was inaugurated by Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on May 1, 2026. Comprising two twin tunnels – of 1.6km and 8.9km – two high-speed viaducts and a 183m cable-stayed bridge above Tiger valley, it is the tallest bridge in India. The main, 8.9km tunnel, excavated 180m below the Lonavala lake, is also among the widest tunnels in the world.
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The nearly Rs70 billion (about Dh2.7 billion) expressway did not suffer any structural damage, but access to it was stopped because of a landslide near the entry point. While it did not hit the tunnel, the infrastructure at the entrance was damaged.
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Senior Maharashtra minister Shivendrasinhraje Bhosale told reporters that the continuous heavy rainfall suddenly changed the natural flow of water, triggering a landslide at the entrance to the link.
“The tunnel has not suffered any damage and only a protective slab near the entry point and a portion of the retaining wall have collapsed,” he said.
Anilkumar Gaikwad, vice-chairman and managing director of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, said it was not the contractor’s fault, but “nature at its play.”
Officials noted the region often sees rainfall of over 150mm a day, but 670mm is extremely rare. The Western Ghats, the Sahyadri mountain range, stretches 1,600km along India’s western coast, from Gujarat all the way to Kerala. Average annual rainfall ranges between 3,000mm and 6,000mm and landslides are common in the mountains.
Opposition parties in the state questioned the government’s credibility after the blockage of the ambitious project within days of inauguration. Harshvardhan Sapkal, president of the state Congress, wondered why the missing link had to be closed so soon after inauguration and investment of Rs70 billion in the project.
Fadnavis told journalists that a major landslide deposited nearly 100 tonnes of debris on the expressway. “This landslide occurred in a stretch where such incidents have not been reported in the past,” he said. “Three lanes on the Mumbai-to-Pune carriageway were initially reopened to traffic and efforts were undertaken on a war footing to restore traffic on the Pune-to-Mumbai carriageway.”
