Traffic on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway was crippled for the entire night on Tuesday after a gas tanker turned turtled, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded in massive congestion on both carriageways, officials said on Wednesday.
The tanker overturned near the Adoshi tunnel in Raigad district in the Khandala Ghat section, said officials, adding that the driver lost control of the vehicles due to high speed. Soon after the accident, which occurred at around 5 pm, gas was found leaking from the tanker, causing panic among motorists.
According to the expressway control room, 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.
This resulted in huge traffic snarls that stretched for over 12 hours, leaving passengers, including women and children, without food, water, and toilet facilities.
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The Mumbai-Pune Expressway is India’s first 6-lane wide concrete, access-controlled tolled expressway, spanning a distance of 94.5 km, and connecting Mumbai, Raigad and Navi Mumbai with Pune.
The Mumbai-bound traffic was diverted onto the Pune-bound carriageway for about a 2-km stretch, and motorists were advised to avoid travelling on the expressway as far as possible until normal traffic movement is restored.
However, continuous gas leak from the tanker resulted in delay in restoring normal traffic movement, resulting in long queues even for Pune-bound motorists, an official at the expressway control room said.
Many motorists voiced their frustration on social media, with some describing the expressway as a “parking lo”" 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.
“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 said that their vehicle had been stationary for over six hours near the accident site.
“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.
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