PUNE/MUMBAI: Drone footage captured on Wednesday revealed the scale of chaos on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway, where thousands of commuters of all ages and backgrounds had a harrowing time after traffic was disrupted for over 32 hours. The disruption followed a tanker carrying highly flammable propylene overturning near the Adoshi Tunnel on the Mumbai-bound carriageway around 4.45pm on Tuesday.The accident occurred around 50 metres ahead of the tunnel in the Borghat stretch, which falls in the Khandala ghat section of Raigad district. Soon after, gas began leaking from the damaged tanker. Strong safety concerns prompted authorities to halt vehicular traffic on the stretch towards Mumbai and the side towards Pune for a few hours, leading to a logjam spanning several kilometres and leaving commuters stranded throughout the night and most of Wednesday.“It was only around 10.30pm that gas was transferred from the damaged tanker to a new one,” the highway police said. “After the damaged vehicle was removed with a crane, the corridor towards Mumbai was reopened for vehicular movement after 1am on Thursday.”Stranded travellers included children, senior citizens, and patients heading to Mumbai for treatment. Among them was 57-year-old Sunita Patil. Her son, Aadesh, told TOI, “My 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.”A similar ordeal was faced by a Latur resident travelling with a cancer patient. “I was taking my friend to Mumbai for treatment and we had an appointment with doctor at 8am. We could not reach the hospital because of the road closure,” he said.While a 15-km stretch was completely log-jammed, sources said the disruption extended to around 50 km over 30 hours. 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.Police said the tanker overturned as the driver could not control the speed on the slope near the Adoshi 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 chemical experts team was called in. 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. 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 till the 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, said the tanker belonged to Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and was headed from Kochi in Kerala to Dahej in Gujarat. He said it was BPCL’s responsibility to deploy its recovery van to plug the leak, but the response came only the next morning, leading to a critical delay. “We held a meeting with BPCL officials and sought an explanation. They said the nearest company registered on their system was required to respond, following which a team of experts from Deepak Phenolics Ltd 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 and recommend corrective measures. 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 experts and the cooling process of the overturned tanker was carried out. Then, it will be towed away using a hydraulic crane.” Hire added, “An FIR has been registered against the tanker driver, Ratan Singh Uday Narayan (44) from Uttar Pradesh, who suffered minor injuries. He has been booked under sections of 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 said, “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 at least 163 buses from various depots, particularly Western Maharashtra and Konkan, were affected. “Bus services will be normalised once the situation improves,” he said. Arun Siya, the divisional controller of MSRTC Pune division, called the issue critical. “Buses from Mumbai to Pune are also affected. We don’t know by when the situation will turn normal,” he said on Wednesday evening. Santosh Bogre, a senior official with the Swargate depot, said buses were released until 9am before being stopped, as 16 buses that left got stranded on the highway. “Many passengers called and complained to us about the mess and hence we stopped all Mumbai operations until the situation normalises,” Bogre said. Similarly, an official with Shivajinagar depot said that no buses from the Pune station depot went to Mumbai. “Around 25 buses from this depot go to several places in Mumbai daily 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 to Mumbai, were stuck. “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 Agency Inputs)
