Kids, elderly and patients left stuck for 32 hours on Pune–Mumbai Expressway; the mega gridlock and its ripple effects

PUNE: Thousands of commuters of all ages and backgrounds had a harrowing time for several hours as traffic on the Pune-Mumbai expressway was disrupted for at least 32 hours after a tanker carrying highly flammable propylene overturned near the Adoshi Tunnel on the Mumbai-bound carriageway around 4.45pm on Tuesday.

The accident occurred around 50m ahead of the tunnel in the Borghat stretch, which falls in the Khandala ghat section of Raigad district.




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Soon, gas began leaking from the damaged tanker. Strong safety concerns immediately prompted the halting of vehicular traffic on the stretch towards Mumbai and on the side towards Pune for a few hours, leading to a logjam spanning several kilometres and leaving commuters hapless all night and through most of Wednesday. It was only around 10.30pm on Wednesday that the transfer of gas from the damaged tanker to a new one was finished, the highway police said. Around midnight, they estimated that after removal of the damaged vehicle with a crane, and the corridor towards Mumbai was likely to reopen after 1am on Thursday.

Major ordeal for travellers

Stranded travellers included children, senior citizens and patients heading to Mumbai for treatment. Among those trapped was 57-year-old Sunita Patil. Her son, Aadesh, told TOI that his brother, Sandesh, rode a two-wheeler — despite two-wheelers being barred on the expressway — from Kharghar in Navi Mumbai to the accident site around 1am on Wednesday to extricate her as she was stuck in traffic without food for over seven hours.

"She is a senior citizen and there was no food or water available on the expressway, so we could not leave her there alone. We were informed that the issue was likely to continue until morning," he said.

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A similar nightmare was faced by a commuter from Latur travelling with a cancer patient. "I was taking my friend to Mumbai for treatment and we had an appointment with the doctor at 8am, but we could not reach the hospital due to the road closure," he said.

Wasim Joad, a resident of Vimannagar, took a U-turn from the food mall near the Urse toll plaza after he received information about the heavy congestion ahead towards Mumbai. "I returned to Pune and travelled to Mumbai via Tamhini Ghat. Though the journey was longer, I reached the destination as it was important," he said.

Some were lucky to find out about the jam in advance, and cancelled their trips. Pune Camp resident Sushil Poddar said he came to know just as he was about to board a bus from Swargate on Wednesday morning. "Many people, including drivers, were talking about the jam. I then found out via social media that the situation is critical. Though I had an important meeting in Mumbai, I nixed my trip," the business executive said.

Authorities left struggling

Officials said the tanker overturned as the driver could not control the speed on the slope near the tunnel. It was damaged at three spots on the valve, after which the leakage started. Although rescue teams — including NDRF, BPCL, officials from the state disaster management and the fire brigade — rushed to the spot, the leakage could not be stopped. Finally, a team of chemical experts was called to the site.

A highway police official said the movement of vehicles towards Mumbai was completely stopped until Wednesday morning, while vehicles were slowly allowed to travel towards Pune. Tanaji Chikhale, the highway superintendent of police (SP), told TOI that one of the three lanes from the Pune carriageway side was opened for vehicles moving towards Mumbai on Wednesday by opening the median barrier.

He said, "We urged people planning to travel to Mumbai to take alternate routes via Tamhini Ghat, Malshej Ghat or Bhimashankar to reach their destinations, while heavy vehicles were advised to park in lay-bys or food malls until the gas leak was neutralised."

The movement of light vehicles was also diverted via Khopoli from the Magic Point on the expressway. Chikhale said the entry of vehicles was also stopped at the entry point on the expressway near Kiwale in Pimpri Chinchwad.

Bhalchandra Chavan, director of state disaster management, told TOI that the tanker belonged to Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and was headed from Kochi in Kerala to Dahej in Gujarat. Referring to the delay in bringing the situation under control, Chavan said it was BPCL's responsibility to deploy its recovery van to plug the leakage, but the response came only the next morning, leading to a critical delay.

"We held a meeting with BPCL officials today and sought an explanation. As per their version, the nearest company registered on their system was required to respond, following which a team of experts from Deepak Phenolics Ltd was rushed to the site. However, the team could not successfully plug the multiple leakages," Chavan said.

BPCL officials offered a different account of events. A senior BPCL official told TOI that the company could not immediately send its recovery van as it was stationed at the Kochi refinery at the time of the accident. "The expert team failed to arrest minor leakages in the tanker. Therefore, it was decided to de-contain the gas into other tankers to prevent escalation of risk. The tanker underwent mandatory checks before induction and was suitable for carrying the gas. The leakage occurred due to the accident, not any apparent design flaw. Nevertheless, this will be examined in the investigation," the official said.

BPCL's Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) branch will conduct a detailed probe into the incident and recommend corrective measures. "The team will also ascertain the exact causes behind the accident," he added.

Senior inspector of Khopoli police station Sachin Hire said, "If there was an explosion due to gas leakage, it would have been a major disaster for 2-3km. On Wednesday evening, the gas was transferred to another tanker under supervision of chemical experts and the cooling process of the overturned tanker was carried out. Once the overturned tanker's cooling process is completed, it will be towed away using hydraulic crane."

Hire added, "An FIR has been registered against the tanker driver, identified as Ratan Singh Uday Narayan (44) from Uttar Pradesh, who suffered minor injuries. He has been booked under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Motor Vehicles Act for rash and negligent driving on a public way and endangering life and personal safety of others."

Raigad SP Aanchal Dalal told TOI, "We registered an accident report. Currently, we are busy with the rescue operation and appropriate legal action, if any, will be decided later."

Ripple effects on transport

The expressway's partial closure also disrupted MSRTC services, forcing cancellation of 139 bus trips. MSRTC PRO Abhijeet Bhosale said that, besides cancellations, at least 163 buses from various depots, particularly those from Western Maharashtra and the Konkan region, were affected. "Keeping passenger safety as our priority, alternative arrangements were made. Bus services will be normalised once the situation improves," he said.

Arun Siya, the divisional controller of MSRTC Pune division, called the issue critical. "The buses coming from Mumbai to Pune are also affected. We don't quite know by when the situation will turn normal," he said.

Santosh Bogre, a senior official with the Swargate depot, said buses were released until 9am before being completely stopped, as 16 buses that left for their destinations were stranded on the highway. "We came to know from many passengers that the buses which went towards Mumbai at 6am ended up getting stuck on the expressway even after noon. Many passengers called and complained to us about the mess and hence we stopped all Mumbai operations until the situation on the highway becomes normal," Barge said.

Similarly, an official with Shivajinagar depot said that no buses from the Pune station depot had gone to Mumbai. "From Pune station depot, around 25 buses go to several places in Mumbai each day and all trips have been cancelled. The authorities needed to inform us earlier via any means so that the coordination could have better," he pointed out.

Balasaheb Khedekar, president of the Pune District Luxury Bus Owners Association, said around 50 private buses from Pune, and also from other places, going towards Mumbai, were stuck on the expressway. "There has been an advisory issued that one can use the Tamhini Ghat. However, the buses won't have that way because of the risks and also that the alternative road will obviously get jammed," Khedekar said.

Railway officials also said that intercity trains between Pune and Mumbai saw heavy crowding on Wednesday. "The number of passengers was more than usual. Though we don't have figures, the crowd on all the trains including the Deccan Queen, Deccan Express, Pragati Express, Intercity Express and others was higher," an official said.

(With inputs from George Mendonca in Mumbai)