- A propylene gas tanker overturned on Mumbai-Pune Expressway, causing 31-hour traffic disruption
- Vehicles were stuck in 20-30 km long queues with no access to food or water for many commuters
- Traffic towards Mumbai was closed; Pune-bound side also faced delays due to continuous gas leak
A serious accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway caused a major traffic disruption lasting more than 31 hours. On Tuesday (Feb 3) evening, a tanker carrying propylene gas overturned in the Khandala Ghat section near the Adoshi Tunnel. Drone footage captured the full extent of the resulting congestion with the three-lane highway packed solid with vehicles stretching for 20-30 km in places.
Commuters reported being stuck for many hours, some overnight, without access to food, water or other facilities. State transport buses were halted, and the supply of essentials such as milk and vegetables was delayed. The now-viral clip shows lines of cars, buses, and heavy trucks forming near-stationary queues, with bumper-to-bumper traffic, around the hilly terrain.
After the tanker overturned, 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.
Eventually, the gas tanker was removed at 1:30 AM on Thursday (Feb 5), and some normalcy returned on the Mumbai–Pune Expressway.
Check The Viral Clip Here:
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Mumbai-Pune Expressway
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. However, after another jam brought the expressway to a halt, social media users have demanded better efforts from the authorities.
Dr Sudhir Mehta, chairman of EKA Mobility and Pinnacle Industries, who was stuck in the jam for eight hours, and later took a helicopter to reach Pune, called for 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).
Mehta explained that helipads cost less than Rs 10 lakhs to make and require less than one acre of open areas, making it an effective option to carry out emergency evacuations during such situations.
