Mumbai: The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Monday slammed the Mahayuti govt over the landslide on the ‘missing link’ — called the ‘connecting link’ since its recent inauguration — on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis defended his govt, saying the missing link was an engineering marvel, be it the tunnel or the viaduct, both of which were intact even in extreme weather conditions. He said his govt had shown courage by creating the link while the govt in 2013 had found reasons not to develop the link.Terming the landslide and closure of the missing link a systemic failure, the opposition demanded a thorough inquiry into big-ticket infrastructure projects. Leading the charge were NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar, Congress state unit president Harshwardhan Sapkal, Congress city unit chief and MP Varsha Gaikwad, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray, and NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule.Pawar asked whether the landslide had also been created for “durability checks”, like the potholes that surfaced a few days ago on the missing link — a dig at Fadnavis, who had said there were only two potholes and the link would undergo a durability check.Echoing Pawar’s sarcasm, Sapkal asked whether the closure of the missing link was also a “monsoon trial”. He said the first spell of rain had effectively turned “infra man” Fadnavis into a “disaster man”.Sapkal argued that while tunnels are successfully carved through mountains globally, Maharashtra’s projects appear to collapse at the first sign of rain. “The problem isn’t the rainfall; it is substandard work, corruption, and the political patronage enjoyed by contractors,” he said.The Congress termed the incidents “Fadnavis’ man-made disaster”, demanding an FIR against the chief minister.MP and Congress city unit chief Varsha Gaikwad said Fadnavis’s testing of the missing link was testing the people’s patience. She said it was surprising that no planning was done for landslides and other natural calamities given the topography of the missing link area. She said on X that there was a “link of brokerage and corruption” in the missing link’ work.Sule urged the chief minister to immediately review the situation and declare a state of emergency regarding infrastructure. She noted that the state appeared “completely paralysed”, with crucial connectivity between Mumbai and Pune severed.Stopping short of alleging outright corruption “until more facts emerge”, Sule raised questions regarding the project’s execution. “We need to know the total expenditure incurred and, more importantly, whether a safety audit was conducted. If it was, did they account for natural disasters?” she said.Thackeray said corruption was the first name of the BJP and Shiv Sena, be it in roads or temples, referring to the Ram temple donation theft case in Ayodhya.Thackeray said on X that the cost of the link was escalated by thousands of crores. “It has now had a landslide and much more within 2 months of its checks and inaugurations. More so, using it while on the way to Pune and back, I noticed and stated publicly also that not even 50 ft of the road is flat. It is all undulated and feels like one is sitting in a boat, riding the waves,” he said.Fadnavis defended his govt and termed the missing link project an engineering marvel. He accused opposition parties of not executing any development project when they were in power and stated that “those who had a habit of indulging in corruption, unable to digest why it is not happening now, are making baseless allegations”.“In 2013, Harshwardhan Sapkal’s party closed the connecting link’s file listing 13 reasons and stating that it was not possible. But our govt showed courage and completed the connecting link project,” he said.Fadnavis said the landslide had brought down nearly 100 tonnes of sludge and nearly 70% had been cleared by afternoon. He said three lanes were open going towards Pune while one lane was operational going towards Mumbai. He said PWD minister Shivendraraje Bhosale was at site overseeing the clearing operations and efforts were on to open it completely.(With inputs from Prasad Kulkarni in Pune)