Mumbai–Pune Expressway Reopens After 33-Hour Disruption

 Mumbai: It took as many as 33 hours to restore traffic on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, which was hit by the three-day gridlock after a gas tanker overturned on Tuesday evening. MNS chief Raj Thackeray slammed the State Government over the lack of disaster-preparedness and maintenance of quality on the expressway.

Authorities cleared the tanker using cranes and reopened the Pune-to-Mumbai carriageway at around 1.40 am on Thursday. Both lanes towards Mumbai and Pune have since been opened, though officials said normal movement will take time because of long backlogs, especially near Lonawala, where queues stretched upto 10 kms.

“Traffic on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway resumed at 1.46 am after the damaged gas tanker was shifted from the accident site,” an official from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) said.

Taking a serious note of the traffic congestion on the Expressway, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has directed the MSRDC to conduct an inquiry into the incident and submit a detailed report with recommendations on how to prevent such incidents in the future and what kind of preparedness should be in place if they do occur.

Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has also instructed that an emergency traffic management plan be prepared immediately. He has directed that the work on the missing link of the Expressway be completed soon.

The tanker overturned on the Mumbai-bound carriageway around 5 pm on Tuesday, triggering a massive traffic congestion that left thousands of vehicles stranded for hours on the busy expressway.

MNS chief Raj Thackeray hit out at the state government over the 33-hour traffic congestion on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, and said although it has ordered an inquiry into the incident, the key question is whether it learns anything from such probes.

In a post on X, Thackeray said, “The Mumbai-Pune Expressway was completely shut for nearly 32 hours. Passengers suffered terribly. And as usual, the government only ordered an inquiry into the matter. Many such incidents have been followed by many inquiries. The real question is: Does the government or the administration ever learn anything from them?”

When such incidents happen, does the administration have any ready action plan - what measures should be taken and how the road can be cleared in the minimum possible time, the MNS president asked.

“It has been 24 years since the expressway was completed...But during this period, the government neither thought of the exigencies that can arise, nor did anyone ensure that the entire road remains of top quality throughout. The only thing that was done promptly and efficiently in this entire period was toll collection,” he said.