A major traffic disruption brought the Mumbai–Pune Expressway to a near standstill for close to two days after a gas tanker carrying propylene overturned in the Khandala Ghat section, leaving thousands of vehicles immobilised and hundreds of commuters stranded overnight.
As traffic slowly began to move again after nearly 32 hours, police found several drivers asleep inside their vehicles along the expressway. Many motorists, exhausted after waiting through the night, had parked and fallen asleep, unaware that the road had finally been reopened in the early hours. Traffic police personnel were seen walking along the long queues, knocking on car windows and waking drivers so that vehicles could start moving and congestion could gradually be eased.
The affected stretch extended for nearly 20 to 22 kilometres, making it one of the longest traffic snarls witnessed on the route in recent years. Authorities managed to clear the overturned tanker using heavy cranes, following which the Pune-to-Mumbai carriageway was reopened at around 1.40 am on Thursday. Both directions—towards Mumbai and towards Pune—have since been opened to traffic. However, officials cautioned that it would take several more hours for movement to return to normal because of the massive backlog of stranded vehicles.
An official from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation confirmed that traffic resumed shortly after the damaged tanker was shifted away from the accident site. Despite this, long queues were still reported near Lonavala, where congestion continued to stretch between five and ten kilometres.
Within Pune district limits, particularly from Khandala Pass to Vadgaon Maval, numerous vehicles remained stuck throughout the night on both the expressway and older alternative routes. While the Bor Ghat section saw some relief as traffic dispersed, police teams continued focusing on waking drivers who had fallen asleep and breaking up congestion pockets to ensure a steady flow of vehicles.
For commuters, the reopening brought much-needed relief after hours of discomfort. Many passengers had spent the night inside their cars, buses and trucks without adequate access to food, drinking water or toilet facilities. Women, children and elderly travellers were among those badly affected by the prolonged halt.
The chaos began around 5 pm on Tuesday when a tanker transporting highly flammable propylene gas overturned on a slope in the Khandala Ghat stretch of Raigad district. The vehicle reportedly lost control while descending, capsized, and began leaking gas. Given the serious safety risks, authorities immediately shut down the Mumbai-bound lanes of the expressway.
Drone footage released by officials later showed massive lines of vehicles snaking across a 20–22 km stretch, underlining the scale of disruption on India’s first six-lane, access-controlled concrete expressway that connects Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Raigad and Pune.
Although the tanker has now been removed and traffic has been restored, officials stressed that complete normalcy would only return once the accumulated backlog of vehicles is fully cleared.
Emergency response teams from the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, along with highway police, were deployed at the site. Their role included securing the area, safely managing the gas transfer, and ensuring the tanker was removed without triggering any further danger.
