Mumbai: A major traffic crisis unfolded on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway after a gas tanker overturned in the Khandala Ghat hilly section, bringing vehicular movement to a standstill for 24 hours and leaving hundreds of commuters stranded on both carriageways, officials confirmed on Wednesday. Passengers, including women and children, spent the night trapped in stationary vehicles without access to food, water, or sanitation facilities near the accident location.
The expressway control room reported that the tanker, transporting highly flammable propylene gas, overturned on the highway at approximately 5 pm on Tuesday.
The traffic disruption persisted for 24 hours through Wednesday evening amid the chaos.
As propylene gas continued leaking from the overturned tanker, authorities deployed teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) to manage the emergency, with operations expected to continue until late evening before vehicular traffic could return to normal, officials stated.
A police official said authorities brought another tanker to the site and began transferring gas from the overturned vehicle, a process expected to take more than two hours.
The Pune-Mumbai lane on the expressway has been fully closed, with traffic redirected to the old highway connecting the two cities, the official said.
Authorities implemented traffic blocks of 15 to 20 minutes while allowing Mumbai-bound vehicles to use the Pune lane of the expressway, which helped ease congestion, the official added.
The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) said in a statement that the Mumbai-bound carriageway was shut down for vehicle and commuter safety, causing traffic buildup on both the Mumbai and Pune-bound lanes of the expressway.
Highway traffic police urged motorists to avoid the expressway wherever possible until normal traffic flow is restored.
The Mumbai-Pune Expressway is India’s first 6-lane wide concrete, access-controlled tolled expressway. It covers a distance of 94.5 km connecting Mumbai, Raigad and Navi Mumbai with Pune.
The accident took place near the Adoshi tunnel in Raigad district when the tanker, reportedly traveling at high speed, lost control on the slope and overturned. Gas began leaking from the tanker immediately after the accident, triggering panic among motorists, an official said.
Police closed Mumbai-bound traffic as a precautionary measure to prevent any mishap.
Traffic heading to Mumbai was redirected onto the Pune-bound carriageway for approximately a 2-km stretch. However, normal movement remained disrupted due to the ongoing gas leak from the tanker, creating long queues and slow-moving traffic even for Pune-bound travelers, an official at the expressway control room said.
Motorists faced severe consequences, with numerous passengers stranded for extended hours.
An MSRDC spokesperson said toll collection on the expressway was suspended from early Wednesday.
The congestion on both the expressway and old Mumbai-Pune Highway left as many as 165 buses stranded at different locations, including Mumbai-Pune Shivneri buses operated by the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC).
Officials said 139 MSRTC services were cancelled on Wednesday due to the disruption.
According to the transport department, the accident affected bus operations across multiple regions of the state. Of the 139 cancelled services, 73 were e-Shivneri buses, while 66 were regular bus services.
Officials said 163 MSRTC buses remained stranded on the expressway. This 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.
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The transport department said passenger safety remained the top priority and alternative arrangements were being organized after assessing the situation. Bus services will resume gradually once traffic on the expressway returns to normal.
An MSRTC driver, whose bus remained trapped in the traffic jam near the Adoshi tunnel for nine hours, said his vehicle finally arrived in 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 gas tanker accident spot for hours. Women passengers and senior citizens faced trouble due to unavailability of toilets,” the driver said, adding vendors were charging Rs 30 for a Rs 10 water bottle.
People turned to social media to highlight the ordeal of stranded passengers.
“People have been stuck and desperately waiting for help. Please do something,” wrote X user VyasKarn.
A conductor of the MSRTC bus told PTI around midnight that their vehicle had been stationary for over six hours near the accident site, leaving passengers without food, water and toilet facilities.
Motorists expressed 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 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.
Pune-bound motorists also faced inconvenience due to the traffic jams.
“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.
With flammable propylene gas continuing to leak from the overturned tanker, expert teams from NDRF, SDRF, and BPCL have been deployed to handle the operation, officials said.
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