Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai
Mumbai, Feb 5: After being paralysed for nearly 32 hours, traffic movement on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway gradually resumed early Thursday following the removal of an overturned gas tanker from the Khandala Ghat section. Several drivers, who had parked their vehicles overnight, were found asleep as traffic police teams moved along the stretch to wake motorists and restore flow.
Authorities cleared the tanker using cranes and reopened the Pune-to-Mumbai carriageway around 1.40 am. Both lanes towards Mumbai and Pune have since been opened, though officials said it will take time for traffic to return to normal due to long queues of stranded vehicles.
An official from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) said traffic resumed at 1.46 am after the damaged tanker was shifted from the accident site.
Vehicles had been stuck across a 20 to 22 km stretch, especially near Lonavala, where congestion of 5 to 10 km was still reported. Within Pune limits, from Khandala Pass to Vadgaon Maval, many vehicles remained stranded through the night on both the expressway and old diversion routes.
Police said congestion in the Bor Ghat section has largely eased, with personnel now focusing on clearing remaining bottlenecks and dispersing parked vehicles.
Commuters expressed relief after spending hours — and in many cases, the entire night — inside their vehicles without access to food, water or toilet facilities. Hundreds of passengers, including women and children, were affected by the prolonged traffic jam.
The disruption began around 5 pm on Tuesday when a tanker carrying highly flammable propylene gas overturned on a slope in the Khandala Ghat stretch of Raigad district. The tanker reportedly lost control and capsized, leading to a gas leak and prompting authorities to shut the Mumbai-bound lanes as a safety precaution.
Drone visuals released by officials showed massive traffic queues stretching up to 22 km on the expressway, which connects Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Raigad and Pune.
Although traffic has resumed, officials said complete normalcy will be restored only after the backlog of vehicles is fully cleared. Teams from the NDRF, SDRF, BPCL and highway police were deployed to secure the area, manage the gas transfer and safely remove the tanker.