Normal traffic on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway was restored early on Thursday after 33-long hours during which thousands of commuters faced major inconvenience. The traffic jam started on Tuesday evening after a gas tanker overturned in the hilly Khandala Ghat section, officials said.
The gas tanker was emptied on Wednesday and removed on Thursday morning near the Adoshi tunnel, news agency PTI reported. As the tanker carrying highly inflammable gas was moved from the accident site, traffic movement was restored on the Mumbai-bound carriageway at 1.46 am, an official from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) said.
At the peak of the traffic jam, lines of stationary vehicles stretched for as far as 20 km. Passengers, including women and children, remain stranded in their vehicles for several hours without food, water, or toilet facilities.
Given the scale of the of the disruption, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered an inquiry into the incident and directed Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) officials to submit a report along with recommendations to deal with such emergencies in future.
“There was 21 tonne of propylene gas which was refilled in another tanker. Once the assurance of safety is given by the gas company teams for the overturned tanker, it will be moved from the site. And it will still take some time to normalise the traffic movement on the E-way,” Highway Police Superintendent Tanaji Chikhale told HT.
Traffic restored
The propylene gas was transferred from the overturned tanker to other tankers late Wednesday night and the accident-hit vehicle was removed with the help of heavy-duty cranes, the MSRDC official was quoted as saying. "Traffic on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway resumed at 1.46 am after the damaged gas tanker was shifted from the accident site," he said.
Vehicular movement in the ghat section normalised gradually after the clearance operation was completed, though congestion persisted for some time as several heavy vehicles were stuck on the stretch.