Traffic movement towards Mumbai, which was blocked due to a landslide on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, resumed in the early hours of Monday as two lanes from Pune towards the Maharashtra capital on the expressway were opened for vehicles, an official told news agency PTI.

The highway police said they have decided to shut the Pune to Mumbai traffic on the expressway from 12 noon to 2 pm on Monday to remove the debris and heavy stones from the hills, reported PTI.

In another incident, a landslide took place near Khandala in Pune district at around 1.30 am on Monday and blocked the traffic between Urse and Talegaon. The road was opened for traffic in the morning after the removal of debris, an official told PTI.

The landslide on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway near Adoshi village in Raigad district took place at around 10.30 pm on Sunday, blocking all the three lanes of the expressway towards the country`s financial capital, the official said.

The Borghat highway police and the Raigad police personnel rushed the spot and the debris was removed with the help of dumpers and earth-movers, he said.

More than 20 dumpers of debris was removed, the official told PTI.

Two lanes of the Pune to Mumbai side were opened for traffic at around 2.30 am on Monday, the official said.

The third lane, which is adjacent to the hilly terrain, has still not been opened as there is a fear of more landslides, he said.

The highway police said they have decided to shut the Pune to Mumbai traffic on the expressway from 12 noon to 2 pm on Monday to remove the debris and heavy stones which may fall from the hills.

The old Pune-Mumbai highway near Shingroba Ghat will remain open for the movement of cars, the highway police said in a tweet.

Meanwhile, Teams of the NDRF and other agencies have left the landslide spot at Irshalwadi in Maharashtra`s Raigad district after calling off the search and rescue operation and local police are now guarding the site, officials told PTI on Monday.

During the four-day search and rescue operation involving 1,100 people including NDRF personnel following the landslide on Wednesday, 27 bodies were recovered while 57 people are untraceable, state minister Uday Samant said on Sunday.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) called of its search and rescue operation on Sunday, he said.

(With inputs from PTI)

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