Gas leak after tanker overturns: 30-hr disruption, 20-km queues as traffic on Pune–Mumbai expressway to halt

Even at 11 pm on Wednesday — more than 30 hours after the accident and subsequent road closures — the traffic stalled for hours had not been completely cleared with one lane of the opposite corridor open for Pune-to-Mumbai movement and two more for Mumbai to Pune flow.

The traffic disruption caused major distress to commuters with many reportedly getting stuck in traffic snarls for 12 to 14 hours. Many people complained of lack of proper communication from police and government from Tuesday evening. Officials however claimed that regular updates were issued to the public through various media.

The incident took place around 5 pm on Tuesday near the entrance of the Adoshi Tunnel on Pune to Mumbai corridor of the Expressway when a Bharat Petroleum tanker carrying propylene overturned while navigating a curve. Soon after the incident, a leak was detected in the tanker. Propylene is a highly flammable industrial gas widely used in petrochemical manufacturing, making leaks extremely hazardous potentially and explosive.

“As soon as the leak was detected, we had no choice but to close down the Pune to Mumbai corridor completely. Teams from Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and National Disaster Response Force, NDRF were called to the location. As the efforts to control the leak were launched, the traffic on both corridors of the expressway had to be stopped for safety. The traffic from some previous points was also diverted to the Old Pune Mumbai Highway, which is part of the National Highway 48. The additional traffic caused a slowdown of the traffic on the Old Highway. This led to formation of the long queues, around 20 kilometers long on the Expressway at one point.” said Tanaji Chikhale, Superintendent of Police with the Raigad Division of the Maharashtra State Highway Police.

“In the early hours of Wednesday, we started the vehicle flow on the Mumbai to Pune corridor. Of the three lanes of this corridor, two lanes were allocated for Mumbai to Pune traffic and one lane for Pune to Mumbai traffic. This started clearing the long queues slowly. But since the queues had reached as long as 20 kilometers, it was expected to take more time, Considering the time taken this was possibly one of the longest disruptions to the traffic on the Pune Mumbai Expressway.” Chikhale added.

“After the leak was controlled to some extent, the decision was taken to transfer the gas from the damaged tanker to two or three empty tankers. This operation started around 6 pm on Wednesday and is expected to be concluded by 1 am of Thursday. After the transfer is complete, the overturned tanker will be straightened and moved from the location. It will take some more time for the stalled traffic to be cleared.” Chikhale added.

The stretch of the National Highway 48 between Pune and Mumbai is referred to as the Old Mumbai Pune Highway. Before the six lane Expressway became operational in early 2000s, the Old Highway was the only direct road link between two metros. The 94 kilometer Expressway has been witnessing heavy traffic jams in the Ghat sections due to high volume of traffic including that of heavy vehicles.

The under-construction Missing Link between Pune and Mumbai has been designed to bypass the congested Lonavala–Khandala ghat section and cut travel time between the two cities by nearly 25–30 minutes. Once completed, the elevated corridor and tunnel are expected to significantly ease traffic pressure on the ghat section with its sharp turns.