Pune, Feb. 5 -- The massive traffic snarls following Tuesday's gas tanker accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway have once again brought under scanner the long-delayed "Missing Link" project. Several political leaders have claimed that the crisis could have been significantly reduced if the alternative route had been operational. Nearly 24 years after the Mumbai-Pune Expressway opened to traffic, the Missing Link project being developed by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is now in its final phase, scheduled to be operational by May 1. The 13.3-km link connects the Khopoli exit to Kusgaon, bypassing the accident-prone Bor Ghat stretch, reducing travel time between the two cities by 25-30 minutes, and shortening the expressway length by nearly 6km. At present, vehicles travel nearly 19 km through the accident prone section, notorious for sharp curves, steep vertical slopes, frequent landslides, and long traffic snarls, particularly during emergencies and the monsoon. Shrirang Barne, MP from Maval, under whose constituency the entire expressway falls, said the accident exposed the vulnerability of the existing ghat stretch. "The work on the Missing Link is progressing fast and the state government intends to operationalise it as early as possible. It is true that had the Missing Link been ready and operational, many commuters may not have been stuck for hours. The only solution to decongest the Pune-Mumbai Expressway is to operationalise the Missing Link," Barne said. Minister of state for public works, Indranil Naik, echoed the sentiment, saying the project was in its final stages. "The work on the Missing Link is progressing fast and we plan to open it for traffic in the next few months," he said. Their comments come amid widespread outrage after thousands of commuters were stranded for nearly 15 hours following the tanker accident, with no alternative route available once traffic came to a standstill. For many commuters stranded during Tuesday's gridlock, the Missing Link represents more than just faster travel. "Incidents like this show how risky it is to depend on a single ghat stretch. If there was an alternate route, at least traffic could have been diverted," said Neel Chavan, a frequent Pune-Mumbai commuter. One of the reasons for the link road's delay could be its impressive but complex components including two tunnels measuring 1.68 km and 8.87 km, and a 181-metre-high valley bridge-one of the tallest in the country. MSRDC officials said over 150 of the total 240 cables on the valley bridge have been installed, and the project is over 90% complete. Rahul Vasaikar, chief engineer, MSRDC Pune, elaborated, "The long tunnels and the valley bridge are in advanced stages. Although the prolonged monsoon affected schedules, work picked up pace post-monsoon and we are confident of completing the project by March 2026," he said. Safety systems, including emergency alarms, direct communication with the control room and cross-passages every 300m for evacuation, have been installed inside the tunnels. But weather related and technical delays increased the project's costs from an initial Rs.6,900 crore to around Rs.7,500 crore....