Traffic jams on Sion-Panvel highway as LPG tanker topples

According to the police, the incident took place around 6am when the tanker, loaded with the gas, was going from Mumbai towards Panvel.

The Sion-Panvel highway saw traffic snarls for 10 hours, as an LPG tanker toppled on the road near Uran Phata bridge at Nerul on Wednesday morning.

According to the police, the incident took place around 6am when the tanker, loaded with the gas, was going from Mumbai towards Panvel. (Bachchan Kumar)

According to the police, the incident took place around 6am when the tanker, loaded with the gas, was going from Mumbai towards Panvel.

As more and more vehicles started coming out of Mumbai towards Pune, the traffic jam, which started from the spot, reached Jui pool near Vashi, which is around 7km from the spot. “Finding no other options to manage the traffic, we started diverting smaller vehicles via Palm Beach road to reach CBD Belapur. The heavy vehicles were kept on the roadsides during the initial few hours,” said Satish Gaikawad, senior police inspector of Vashi traffic division.

Later the police allowed the vehicles to use the service roads along Sion-Panvel highway to cross that stretch. “Our worst fear was that the tanker might catch fire due to the impact of the accident. Experts teams were called in to the spot to avert that sort of accident,” said Amol Zende, a senior officer from Navi Mumbai traffic department. “Several hours later, the fuel was transferred to another cylinder,” he added.

The driver of the tanker fled the spot just after the accident. The police are still searching for him.