Mumbai-bound traffic on Mumbai–Pune Expressway restored after 33 hours

Traffic on the Mumbai-bound carriageway of the Mumbai–Pune Expressway was restored in the early hours of Thursday, more than a day after a tanker transporting highly flammable propylene gas overturned in the Khandala Ghat section, officials said.

According to the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), the damaged tanker was removed from near the Adoshi tunnel after the gas was safely transferred to other vehicles, allowing traffic to resume at around 1.46 am.

The accident occurred at about 5 pm on Tuesday and led to the complete closure of the Mumbai-bound lane, triggering severe congestion on one of the country’s busiest highways. At the height of the disruption, stationary traffic stretched up to 20 km, with thousands of motorists stranded for hours.

Passengers, including women and children, were forced to remain in their vehicles for extended periods without access to food, water or toilet facilities, fuelling public anger over the prolonged delay.

Emergency teams worked through the night on Wednesday to transfer the propylene gas and remove the overturned tanker using heavy-duty cranes. Once the clearance operation was completed, traffic in the ghat section gradually began to normalise, although congestion persisted for some time due to the backlog of heavy vehicles.

Police said traffic flow improved significantly within a few hours of the road reopening, though movement slowed briefly on Thursday morning after several heavy vehicles broke down near the Amrutanjan Bridge stretch.

The incident prompted authorities to suspend toll collection on the expressway, while traffic was diverted and regulated in phases along the Pune-bound carriageway.

Public transport services were also badly affected, with several Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) buses stranded and many regular services cancelled.

The disruption had a wider impact, delaying the movement of goods vehicles and affecting supplies of essential items such as milk and vegetables in parts of the region.

Teams from the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, highway police and the MSRDC were deployed to manage the hazardous situation and ensure the safe removal of the tanker.

The Mumbai–Pune Expressway, India’s first six-lane, access-controlled concrete expressway, stretches nearly 95 km and serves as a critical link between Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Raigad and Pune.

With PTI inputs