Mumbai-Pune Expressway traffic resumes after 33 hours; overturned gas tanker removed

Traffic on the Mumbai-bound carriageway of Mumbai-Pune Expressway was restored early on Thursday, 33 hours after a gas tanker overturned in the hilly Khandala Ghat section, officials said.

The tanker, which carried the highly flammable propylene gas, was removed from the accident site near the Adoshi tunnel in the ghat section, allowing the resumption of traffic on the Mumbai-bound carriageway at 1.46 am, an official from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) said.

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 tanker overturned on the Mumbai-bound carriageway around 5 pm on Tuesday, triggering a massive traffic congestion that left thousands of vehicles stranded for hours on the busy expressway.

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

The propylene gas was safely transferred from the overturned tanker to other tankers late Wednesday night and the accident-hit vehicle was removed with the help of heavy-duty cranes, the MSRDC official said.

"Traffic on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway resumed at 1.46 am after the damaged gas tanker was shifted from the accident site," he said.

Vehicular movement in the ghat section normalised gradually after the clearance operation was completed, though congestion persisted for some time as several heavy vehicles were stuck on the stretch.

"With the tanker removed and the road cleared, traffic on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway normalised within the next few hours," a police official said.

However, the movement slowed briefly in the ghat section on Thursday morning due to the breakdown of a few heavy vehicles near the Amrutanjan Bridge stretch around 7.30 am, he said.

The tanker accident on Tuesday had led to the complete closure of the Mumbai-bound carriageway, while traffic was diverted and regulated in blocks from the Pune-bound lane.

Massive traffic snarls and public outrage had prompted the MSRDC to suspend toll collection on the expressway.

Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), highway police and MSRDC were deployed at the site to manage the hazardous situation and carry out the gas transfer and tanker removal safely.

The prolonged disruption also affected public transport, with several Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) buses stranded on the expressway and a large number of regular services cancelled.

The incident also disrupted the supply of essential items such as milk and vegetables, as several goods vehicles remained stuck for hours.