Just two days after the 32-hour-long traffic jam on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway ended, the route reportedly faced traffic chaos again over the weekend. Peak-hour travel on Saturday turned into a crawl for most commuters due to what officials described as “local body election-related travel”.
Commuters were reportedly stuck in traffic jams for long hours on Saturday and their travel time on various parts of the route also increased by over an hour. (PTI)A few days ago, on Tuesday, a propylene tanker overturned near Adoshi Tunnel at Khandala Ghat, bringing the busy corridor to a prolonged shutdown. Authorities resumed a 32-hour operation on the expressway around 2 a.m. on Thursday, completing the gas transfer and removal of the overturned tanker.
The longest traffic jam in the history of the 94.5-km-long Mumbai-Pune Expressway left commuters stranded without access to food, drinking water or restrooms.
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‘It’s getting routine’On Saturday, commuters were once again stuck in long traffic jams, The Times of India reported, with travel times increasing by over an hour on several parts of the route.
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An X user, Arun Prabhudesai, a tech influencer, took to the social media platform and requested that the Mumbai-Pune Expressway urgently needed a “rethink and a revamp”.
“This is not just another highway, it is one of India’s most important financial corridors, connecting two economic engines. Yet a gas tanker accident brought it to a complete standstill for 33 hours. This is not a small disruption, this is a systemic failure,” he wrote in his post.
He said that despite the restoration of traffic after the chaos on Tuesday-Wednesday, six members of his team traveled for “six hours to cross the Lonavla Ghat stretch”.
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“It’s no longer the exception, it’s becoming the norm,” he added.
He called for tighter restrictions on heavy vehicles, better monitoring, faster emergency response and long-pending infrastructure fixes.
Pradeep Malpote, CEO, KP Travels, was quoted by TOI as saying, “Traffic was slow throughout the day, and people are still taking unusually long to reach their destinations.”
He added that traffic was “extremely slow” on Saturday as well. “More than 25 of our vehicles traveled from Pune to Mumbai, and the trip ended up taking more than five hours,” Malpot said.
“Trucks and containers account for most of the congestion,” Malpot also blamed heavy vehicles for congestion on the expressway.
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Meanwhile, a highway police official said that the traffic congestion was caused due to election-related travel. “Due to district council and panchayat samiti elections, many people are traveling between villages and cities,” the official was quoted as saying by TOI.
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Additionally, police officials said that stop-and-go traffic is being stopped to ensure traffic control.
32 hour traffic story on Mumbai-Pune Expressway
Around 5:06 pm on Tuesday, a tanker transporting propylene gas from Cochin to Surat lost control on the downhill slope and overturned near Adoshi village.
Amid concerns over the high-risk ignition, authorities immediately halted traffic and blocked the affected stretch, leading to long queues and stranded commuters on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
Pune-bound traffic was backed up till Khalapur Toll Naka, while Mumbai-bound vehicles witnessed traffic jams of about 15 to 16 km long. HT reported before
Commuters do not have access to toilets, drinking water or food for long periods due to traffic jams.
Authorities began working, and after more than 30 hours, they completed the gas transfer and removal of the overturned tanker before reopening traffic around 2 p.m.
