Traffic remained crippled on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway 18 hours after a gas tanker overturned in the Khandala Ghat section, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded and causing massive congestion on both carriageways, officials said on Wednesday.
Vehicles remained stationary near the accident site overnight, leaving passengers, including women and children, without food, water, or toilet facilities.
Amid the traffic chaos, the disruption extended for more than 12 km by morning.
With flammable propylene gas still leaking from the tanker, NDRF, SDRF, and BPCL teams have been deployed to manage the situation, and the operation is likely to continue until late evening before normal vehicular movement can be restored, officials said.
The highway traffic police have appealed to motorists to avoid travelling on the expressway as far as possible until normal traffic movement is restored.
The Mumbai-Pune Expressway is India's first 6-lane wide concrete, access-controlled tolled expressway. It spans a distance of 94.5 km connecting Mumbai, Raigad and Navi Mumbai with Pune.
According to the expressway control room, the gas tanker overturned on the highway at around 5 pm on Tuesday.
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 tanker was carrying propylene gas, which is highly flammable.
As a precautionary measure, the police immediately closed traffic towards Mumbai to prevent any untoward incident.
The Mumbai-bound traffic was diverted onto the Pune-bound carriageway for about a 2-km stretch due to the accident.
However, normal movement could not be restored due to a 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.
The impact was severe on motorists, with several passengers stranded for hours.
"People have been stuck and desperately waiting for help. Please do something," wrote X user VyasKarn.
A conductor of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (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.
Many motorists voiced their frustration on social media, with some describing the expressway as a "parking lot" and advising others to avoid travel unless necessary.
"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.
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.
The Maharashtra Highway Traffic Police have advised motorists to avoid the Mumbai–Pune Expressway until regular traffic movement is restored.
As flammable propylene gas continues to leak from the overturned tanker, expert teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) have been called in to handle the operation, officials said.
As the gas is highly flammable, the police were taking all precautions to avoid any untoward incident, leading to long queues of vehicles on the expressway, an official said.
So far, only 50 per cent gas has been released, and the process to expedite the removal of the remaining gas was underway with the help of experts, but it will take some time, he said.
Experts have advised halting traffic movement for about 5 km from the accident site while the operation is underway, the official said.
As the teams continue their work, traffic on the expressway remains disrupted over a stretch of more than 12 km.
With congestion building up, the police have diverted some vehicles to the old Mumbai–Pune Highway.
After imposing blocks of 15 to 20 minutes, vehicles are being allowed to move from the opposite lane towards Mumbai, the official said.
Given the situation, the operation is likely to continue until late Wednesday evening before normal vehicular movement can be restored, he added.
The tanker overturned in the Khandala Ghat section on the Mumbai-bound corridor near the Adoshi tunnel, as per a statement of the highway traffic police shared by a spokesperson of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC).
A highly flammable gas leaked from the tanker after the accident, and all agencies concerned were working at the site on a war footing to contain the situation, it said.
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, the statement added.
