Traffic movement on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway remained badly crippled for well over 24 hours after a gas tanker overturned in the Khandala Ghat stretch, creating one of the longest and most severe traffic snarls seen on the crucial corridor in recent years. Officials said the disruption left lakhs of commuters stranded, with drone footage and on-ground assessments showing continuous queues of vehicles stretching nearly 20 to 22 kilometres in both directions.
The scale of the gridlock was highlighted after noted industrialist and Pinnacle Group chairman Dr Sudhir Mehta was among those caught in the standstill. Mehta remained stuck on the expressway for close to eight hours before being evacuated by helicopter to Pune. He later shared aerial visuals of the congestion on social media platform X, offering a stark view of thousands of vehicles locked bumper-to-bumper across the hilly section of the highway.
In his posts, Mehta raised serious questions about emergency preparedness on India’s first access-controlled expressway. He argued that the incident exposed structural gaps in crisis management and suggested long-term solutions to mitigate similar situations in the future. Among his recommendations were the construction of designated turnaround or exit points at regular intervals, allowing vehicles to reverse direction during emergencies. He also proposed setting up helipads along the route to facilitate rapid evacuation, pointing out that such infrastructure could be developed at relatively low cost and with minimal land acquisition.
Mehta, who also heads EKA Mobility and Pinnacle Industries, expressed gratitude to aviation consultant and former Air Force officer Nitin Welde for arranging the helicopter evacuation that enabled him to reach Pune safely amid the chaos.
The incident itself occurred around 5 pm on Tuesday, when a tanker transporting highly flammable propylene gas reportedly lost control while descending a slope in Raigad district and overturned. The accident resulted in a gas leak, prompting authorities to immediately shut the Mumbai-bound carriageway as a precautionary safety measure to prevent any risk of ignition or further accidents.
Despite continuous efforts through the night and into Wednesday, the situation showed little improvement for several hours. Drone visuals released by officials depicted massive traffic congestion, with vehicles stranded across long stretches of the expressway. Emergency response teams from the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited were deployed at the site to manage the gas leak and stabilise the tanker.
Officials said that by Wednesday morning, only about half of the gas had been safely released, with specialised teams continuing operations on a war footing to neutralise the remaining load. Authorities warned that traffic restrictions could persist until the tanker was fully secured and the affected stretch declared completely safe, advising commuters to avoid the expressway until normalcy is restored.
