Traffic hit for six hours after boulder falls on Saptashrungi Gad road; PWD sounds caution for motorists

Nashik: Traffic on the Nanduri–Saptashrungi Gad ghat road was disrupted for at least six hours on Friday after a five-to-six-tonne boulder fell onto the road during heavy rainfall. The public works department urged motorists to exercise extreme caution while travelling through the ghat section.PWD officials said protective wire mesh had been installed on steep cliff faces along certain high-priority stretches of the eight-kilometre ghat road, while work on securing the remaining vulnerable areas was still on. “The boulder fell from an unsecured section of the hillside. No one was present at the spot when the incident occurred. Residents later noticed the boulder and alerted the administration. We immediately deployed rock breakers to dismantle and remove the boulder, restoring traffic movement after a blockade that lasted nearly six hours,” PWD officer Rohini Vasave said.Persistent rainfall in the region has increased concerns over the stability of the hillside along the ghat route. To address recurring incidents of rockfalls and landslides, a Rs 35-crore project had previously been sanctioned to install protective steel mesh in vulnerable zones. “As recommended by IIT Bombay, wire mesh and rockfall barriers are being installed along a total stretch of 2,500 metres. Work on the 1,300-metre high-priority section was approved first and is now close to completion.

The recent rockfall occurred at an unprotected location near Ganpati Point,” Vasave said.The officials said they intensified monitoring of the ghat section to ensure commuter safety. Teams will inspect vulnerable locations several times a day, particularly during and after heavy rainfall, to detect any signs of rock instability, they said. “After intense rainfall, small rock fragments often accumulate along the roadside. If such warning signs are observed, vehicular movement will be stopped immediately.

Monitoring of the ghat section will now continue round the clock,” Vasave added.