Navi Mumbai: A landslide from a hillock on the common stretch of the Kashedi Ghat section resulted in a complete closure of the Mumbai-Goa highway for around 12 hours on Monday. The landslide came along with trees and vegetation, leading to 7-8 ft-high debris deposits on the stretch. The incident was reported around 1.30 am in Khed taluka, Ratnagiri district. A family has been relocated to a safer place.“The Goa-bound carriageway has been restored for traffic movement, but the Mumbai corridor will be opened on Tuesday. The debris is lying on a 250-300m-long stretch of NH-66. Neither was anyone injured nor was any vehicle damaged in the incident. Incessant rain continues to lash the area, affecting our operation,” said PWD secretary Santosh Shelar.This is apart from the 2-3 inundated stretches under Roha taluka in Raigad district, where traffic movement has been shut and diverted to the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and Pune.Shelar further said, “There were petty landslides reported at Parshuram ghat section in Ratnagiri and minor boulder-fall incidents in some other stretches. Various teams are continuously monitoring the situation. Those stuck on the highway were offered tea, snacks and water as there is no canteen available on the landslide-hit stretch.”A house nearby was partially damaged in the landslide. The district administration has evacuated three family members of a local resident, Krishna Jadhav, to a safer location. The preventive action was taken following the landslide. Following the incident, vehicular queue was extended to a few kilometres.A Khed rescuer on the spot, Prasad Gandhi, said, “A muck of the debris mass with rainwater has flooded a portion of the Mumbai-bound carriageway. Partial damage occurred to the house due to the landslide. Since the opening of the tunnel road, the old stretch of the highway is hardly used by motorists.”
