- Dr Sudhir Mehta used a helicopter after an 8-hour jam on Mumbai-Pune Expressway
- He shared aerial footage and urged for emergency exits and helipads on the expressway
- Mehta said helipads cost under Rs 10 lacs and need less than one acre of space
Dr Sudhir Mehta, chairman of EKA Mobility and Pinnacle Industries, has gone viral after taking a helicopter to reach Pune after being stuck in a massive traffic jam on the Mumbai-Pune expressway for eight hours. Sharing aerial footage of the miles-long traffic jam on social media, Mehta called for urgent infrastructure improvements. He specifically called for the strategic placement of emergency exits and helipads along the high-speed corridor to better manage future crises.
“Lacs of people are stuck on the #Mumbai #Pune expressway for the last 18 hours for ‘one gas tanker'. For such emergencies we need to plan exits at different points on expressway which can be opened to allow vehicles to return,” Mehta wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“Helipads cost less than Rs 10 lacs to make and require less than one acre of open area. These need to be mandatory at various points near the expressway for emergency evacuation.”
Mehta also thanked Nitin Welde, an Air Veteran and Consultant for Helicopters in Civil Aviation, for helping him get back to Pune after being stuck for eight hours.
As the post went viral, social media users demanded that authorities must prepare in a better manner instead of relying on helicopters to salvage the situation.
"What we need is people to be held accountable for such a mess. Civic authority should be equipped/prepared and ready for all eventualities," said one user, while another added: "How will helipad solve the problem? How many can be evacuated from the lacs stranded on the highway?"
A third commented: "I got stuck for 12 hours and was very furious. This isn't the first time such an incident happened on this expressway. There has to be a way to do better."
Check The Viral Post Here:
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Mumbai-Pune Expressway Jam
The traffic jam on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway was caused after a gas tanker carrying a highly flammable gas overturned near the Adoshi Tunnel in the Khandala Ghat section of the expressway on Tuesday (Feb 3) at around 5 pm. Soon after the accident, propylene gas was found leaking from the tanker, causing panic among motorists
The police immediately closed traffic towards Mumbai and diverted vehicles to the Pune-bound side. Despite this, normal movement could not be restored due to the continuous gas leak from the tanker, resulting in long queues and crawling traffic even for Pune-bound motorists.
The Mumbai-Pune Expressway is India's first six-lane, concrete, access-controlled road. It spans a distance of 94.5 km connecting Mumbai, Raigad and Navi Mumbai with Pune.
