Maha CM defends missing link project after landslide triggers Oppn’s criticism

Mumbai, July 6 (IANS) Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday hit back at the opposition, which targeted him and the Mahayuti government directly, alleging large-scale corruption in the Mumbai-Pune Missing Link project after traffic came to a halt following a landslide there.

“Answers should only be given to people who actually understand something. Those whose sole purpose is to criticise, who have done nothing in their own lifetimes, not even built a simple bridge, and whose party ruined the state of Maharashtra, are now questioning us. No disaster has occurred within this connecting link, which is nothing short of an engineering marvel. Whatever happened took place because of a landslide on the slope in front of it,” CM Fadnavis clarified.

“Those who are habituated to corruption are the ones who internally wonder why nothing of the sort is happening under our administration. That is why they are levelling reckless allegations. Such accusations should be ignored. If an error occurs, it should be rectified. In 2013, Harshvardhan Sakpal’s party and their Chief Minister closed the file on this project, stating that the connecting link was impossible and listing 13 reasons against it. However, the Mahayuti government showed courage and built the Missing Link,” added the Chief Minister.

The Chief Minister said that the spot on the Mumbai-Pune highway where the landslide occurred received rainfall three times the average.

“This caused a massive amount of soil debris to slide down, trapping several small vehicles. Over 100 tons of debris came down onto the road, an incident that has never happened before,” he said.

He responded to the opposition’s criticism. Following a landslide on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in the early hours of Monday morning, traffic ground to a complete halt.

The landslide occurred near a tunnel on the ‘Missing Link’ project, blocking Mumbai-bound traffic coming from Pune, though traffic coming from Mumbai towards Pune was later restored.

While highway authorities are working on a war footing to reopen the road, the incident has sparked an intense political row.

Due to torrential rainfall early Monday morning, a massive landslide occurred from the hill slope at the end of the first tunnel along the Expressway’s Missing Link section.

Continuous rain caused waterlogging, leading to soil and rocks sliding down the slope and ultimately causing the collapse of a retaining wall.

As a safety precaution, traffic on both sides of the highway was completely halted for some time during the early hours of Monday.

–IANS

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