Mumbai-Pune e-way gridlocked for 30 hrs; traffic resumption likely today

Traffic remained crippled on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway on Wednesday night, almost 30 hours after a gas tanker overturned in the mountainous Khandala Ghat section, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded and creating a nightmare for travellers.

Lines of stationary vehicles stretched for as far as 20 km at one point. Passengers, including women and children, remain stranded in their vehicles for several hours without food, water, or toilet facilities.

Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) officials said the highly-flammable propylene gas has been transferred from the affected tanker to other tankers. The lifting of the damaged tanker is underway.

The traffic snarl on the expressway is expected to ease in the morning, officials added.

According to the expressway control room, the gas tanker overturned on the busy highway at around 5 pm on Tuesday.

With the flammable gas leaking from the tanker, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) teams were deployed to manage the situation. Authorities brought another tanker, and the process of transferring gas from the overturned vehicle was underway, a police official said.

The Pune-Mumbai lane on the expressway has been completely shut, and the traffic diverted to the old highway between the two cities, he said.

After imposing blocks of 15 to 20 minutes, vehicular movement towards Mumbai was allowed from the Pune lane of the expressway, which reduced congestion, the official added.

The Mumbai-bound carriageway was closed in the interest of vehicle and commuter safety, leading to traffic congestion on both the Mumbai and Pune-bound lanes of the expressway, said a statement from the MSRDC.

The Mumbai-Pune Expressway is India's first 6-lane concrete, access-controlled tolled expressway. It spans a distance of 94.5 km connecting Mumbai, Raigad and Navi Mumbai with Pune.

The incident occurred near the Adoshi tunnel in Raigad district when the tanker, allegedly travelling at high speed, lost control due to the slope and overturned. Soon after the accident, gas was found leaking from the tanker, causing panic among motorists, an official said.

The traffic towards Mumbai was diverted onto the Pune-bound carriageway for about a 2-km stretch. However, normal movement could not be restored due to continuous gas leak from the tanker, resulting in long queues and crawling traffic even for Pune-bound motorists, an official at the expressway control room said.

An MSRDC spokesperson said toll collection on the expressway has been suspended since early Wednesday.

Due to the snarl on the expressway and old Mumbai-Pune Highway, as many as 165 buses, including Mumbai-Pune Shivneri buses of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), were stuck at various locations.

In view of the disruption, 139 services of the MSRTC were cancelled on Wednesday, officials said.

As per information provided by the transport department, the accident disrupted bus operations across several regions of the state. Of the total 139 cancelled services, 73 were e-Shivneri buses, while 66 were regular bus services.

Officials said 163 MSRTC buses were stranded on the expressway. These included 46 buses from the Satara division, 36 from Solapur, 20 from Pune, 18 from Sangli, 13 from Kolhapur, 12 from Palghar, 11 from Thane and seven from the Mumbai division.

The transport department said passenger safety was being given top priority and alternative arrangements were being made after reviewing the situation. Bus services will be restored in a phased manner once traffic on the expressway normalises.

MSRDC officials used various communication channels, including FM radio and social media, to inform commuters about the traffic situation on the expressway and NH-48. The public was also advised to avoid travel unless absolutely necessary and to use alternate routes.

Meanwhile, the MSRDC and IRBMPEPL teams suggested to the Highway Safety Patrol (HSP) to implement suitable traffic diversions at the Kiwale entry point of the expressway to prevent vehicles from entering the Mumbai corridor, a release stated.

To assist passengers stranded in the traffic jam, IRBMPEPL distributed water bottles and biscuit packets wherever access was possible. Pune (Rural) Police also distributed water and biscuits to motorists near Lonavala.

An MSRTC driver, whose bus was stuck in a traffic snarl close to the Adoshi tunnel for nine hours, said his vehicle finally reached Panvel in Navi Mumbai at 3 am on Wednesday.

"We faced an unprecedented traffic jam on the expressway as our bus was stuck just a few metres away from the tanker accident spot for hours. Women passengers and senior citizens faced trouble due to the unavailability of toilets," the driver said, adding that vendors were charging Rs 30 for a Rs 10 water bottle.

A conductor of the MSRTC bus told PTI around Tuesday midnight that their vehicle had been stationary for over six hours near the accident site, leaving passengers without food, water and toilet facilities.

Motorists voiced their frustration on social media, with some describing the expressway as a "parking lot".

"Mumbai-Pune Expressway is a literal parking lot right now. Traffic is crawling for hours near Lonavala and Khandala due to a truck overturn. If you absolutely don't have to travel, don't," wrote X user pranav_72.

The Pune-bound motorists were also inconvenienced due to the traffic snarls.

"Started my journey from Andheri West around 7 pm via cab. Will be reaching Pune around 3.40 am. Worst traffic experience I ever had," another X user, Sohit Manik, wrote.