mumbai

Updated: Jul 01, 2017 00:23 IST

To prevent landslides on Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has started removing loose soil and boulders from the adjacent hills.

To ensure that work went on smoothly on Friday, officials halted traffic and let vehicles pass at 10 to 15-minute intervals near Khopoli in Raigad.

A few small rocks had fallen on the road on Wednesday morning. However, this did not create major problems for vehicles.

“If huge boulders and loose soil falls on the highway and blocks the route, the movement of vehicles will be hampered. We are removing soil and boulders from the hills as a precautionary measure,” said a senior MSRDC official.

The MSRDC has also formed a special team to carry out this task along the highway. The team will patrol the area between Khalapur and Lonavala, where the most landslides have taken place over the past few years.

The team will use police stations and chowkies along the highway to monitor the situation. They are working in close collaboration with the state highway authorities and the local police.

“We are paying special attention so motorists are unaffected by the ongoing work. Vehicles are being stopped only once in an hour for no more than 15 minutes. Most of our work is being done on the Pune-Mumbai lane.”

“This task is going on for the past four to five days. At this moment we cannot say how much time it will take to finish it. However our team will keep patrolling the highway throughout the monsoons,” he further said.

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