Malshej ghat shut for 3 days after boulder collapse

Mumbai: After boulders from Malshej ghat fell on a truck at around 3am on Tuesday owing to heavy rain - National Highway 61, which is a vital link to Mumbai and other areas via Murbad taluka in Thane district - will remain closed for the next three days as the debris is yet to be cleared.

Due to the boulder collapse, a truck driver and his assistant suffered minor injuries. Some boulders fell from the ghat on the truck in the small hours of Tuesday but no casualties were reported.

Executive engineer of National Highway of the Thane division, Dinesh Mahajan, said that due to heavy rain and thick fog, the works of clearing the roads had been stopped. In addition to this, minor rocks were still falling from the ghat. It would take another two to three days to clear the road, he added.

Senior police inspector of Tokawade police station, Thane rural, Dhananjay Pore, said that Dahi Phale (25), a truck cleaner, sustained minor injuries on his leg due to boulders falling on the truck. The truck was completely damaged. The truck driver has been identified as Buwa (50), who is Mr Phale’s father.

“We have tried to remove the debris from the roads but due to thick fog and heavy rainfall, the works had to be stopped in less than two hours,” said Mr Pore. At least 100m of the highway has been covered by debris.

Mr Mahajan said that the National Highway had been closed down completely for traffic. Those, who wanted to travel to Ahmednagar, should either take the Mumbai-Pune road or go via Mumbai-Nashik road.

In this monsoon season, this was the second incident of landslide on the Malshej ghat.  In mid-July, a landslide had occurred, blocking traffic, however that time, debris was removed within three hours.