Days after 32-hour-long gridlock, traffic clogs at Mumbai-Pune Expressway yet again: Report

The Tuesday-Wednesday traffic gridlock was the longest in the history of the 94.5-kilometre-long Mumbai–Pune Expressway.

Just two days after a 32-hour-long traffic clog came to an end on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the route was reportedly met with traffic chaos once again over the weekend. Peak-hour travel turned into a tortoise crawl for most commuters on Saturday due to what officials described as "local body election-related travel".

Commuters were reportedly stuck in traffic for long hours on Saturday and their travel time also increased by over an hour on several parts of the route. (PTI)

Days earlier, on Tuesday, the overturning of a propylene tanker near the Adoshi tunnel in the Khandala ghat triggered a prolonged shutdown of the busy corridor. Authorities carried out a 32-hour operation, completing the gas transfer and removal of the overturned tanker, restoring traffic on the expressway at around 2 am on Thursday.

The longest traffic gridlock in the history of the 94.5-kilometre-long Mumbai–Pune Expressway had left commuters stranded without access to food, drinking water, or restrooms.

‘It’s becoming routine'

On Saturday, commuters were stuck in traffic for long hours once again, the Times of India reported, adding that travel time increased by over an hour on several parts of the route.

An X user, Arun Prabhudesai, a tech influencer, took to the social media platform and urged that the Mumbai-Pune Expressway urgently needs a "rethink and a revamp".

"This isn’t just another highway, it’s one of India’s most important financial corridors, connecting two economic engines. Yet a single gas tanker accident brought it to a complete standstill for 33 hours. That’s not a small disruption, that’s a systemic failure," he wrote in his post.

He said that despite the restoration of traffic movement after Tuesday-Wednesday's chaos, six members of his team travelled for "six hours to cross the Lonavla ghat stretch".

"This is not an exception anymore, it's becoming routine," he added.

He called for stricter limits on heavy vehicles, better monitoring, faster emergency response, and long-pending infrastructure fixes.

"Traffic stayed sluggish throughout the day, and people are still taking unusually long to reach their destinations," Pradeep Malpote, CEO of KP Travels, was quoted as saying by ToI.

He added that vehicle movement was "extremely slow" on Saturday as well. "We had more than 25 cars travelling from Pune to Mumbai, and the trip ended up taking over five hours," Malpote said.

Malpote also blamed heavy vehicles for the traffic jam on the expressway, saying "trucks and containers are responsible for most of the congestion".

Meanwhile, a highway police official reportedly stated that traffic snarls were caused by election-related travel. "Due to the zilla parishad and panchayat samiti elections, many people are travelling between villages and cities," the official was cited by ToI.

Additionally, police officers stated that traffic was being stopped intermittently to ensure traffic regulation.

The 32-hour traffic saga on Mumbai-Pune Expressway

Around 5:06 pm on Tuesday, a tanker transporting propylene gas from Cochin to Surat lost control on a downward slope and overturned near Adoshi village.

Amid concerns of high-risk ignition, authorities immediately stopped vehicular movement and cordoned off the affected stretch, resulting in massive queues and commuters being stranded on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway for long hours.

Traffic towards Pune was backed up till the Khalapur toll naka, while the Mumbai-bound vehicles witnessed a nearly 15 to 16-kilometre-long congestion, HT reported earlier.

The traffic gridlock left commuters without access to toilets, drinking water, or food for long hours.

Authorities got to work, and after more than 30 hours, they completed the gas transfer and removal of the overturned tanker before resuming the traffic around 2 am.