Pune-Bengaluru Highway damaged. (Photo | EPS)
BELAGAVI: A vast stretch of National Highway-4 connecting Pune to Bengaluru got badly damaged due to landslide caused by incessant rains lashing Karnataka-Maharashtra border on Monday night. Owing to the impact of landslide, the road has broken into parts bringing the vehicular movement on this busy stretch to a grinding halt.
The damaged road falls at Shiroli, near Kolhapur. According to sources, the government authorities and officials of National Highway Authority of India have halted the movement of vehicles on both sides of the damaged portion. Given the extent of damage, sources said, it may take several hours to repair the road and allow the stranded vehicles to move.
Thousands of vehicles ply on this busiest stretch of NH on a daily basis which connects Belagavi to Pune via Kolhapur. For the past one week, Kolhapur received highest rainfall in the region. According to and Regional Meteorological Centre, Mumbai, Kolhapur district is expected to receive extreme to very heavy rainfall in the next four days.
