Overview
- A monsoon-triggered landslide blocked the Pune-to-Mumbai carriageway on the new 13-km Missing Link and forced a temporary closure and traffic diversions in July, weeks after the route opened on May 1.
- The Missing Link is a Rs 6,695 crore bypass through the Sahyadri with two twin tunnels and a cable-stayed bridge that was built to shorten distance and cut travel time between Mumbai and Pune.
- Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Monday that he was blamed on social media even though the state government executed the Missing Link after the Forest Department withheld permission during his tenure.
- Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis defended the project, rejected broad criticism, and said the state will carry out safety measures recommended by experts rather than judge the work on a single incident.
- The National Highways Authority of India earlier clarified a separate July viral claim about a Lucknow–Kanpur expressway 'cave-in' was only a surface wearing issue that was repaired, underscoring how social media footage is driving rapid technical and political scrutiny.