2 minutes of readingPuneUpdated: February 5, 2026 10:58 am IST
Traffic on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway, a vital line between the two metros, resumed in the early hours of Thursday. A major, one of the longest in history, Traffic interruptions of more than 32 hours. It was reported on the highway after a tanker carrying highly flammable propylene gas overturned on the Mumbai-bound corridor at Adoshi tunnel in Raigad district on Tuesday night.
Vikrant Deshmukh, Superintendent, Highway Safety Patrol (HSP), Puneconfirmed that traffic in Pune–Bombay The highway returned to normal around 2am after the transfer of gas from the damaged tanker to empty trucks was safely completed in a high-risk operation.
“After the gas transfer was completed, traffic has resumed on both the highway corridors. But there are a large number of heavy vehicles on the highway, so it will take more time until the traffic situation is normal,” Deshmukh said.
The incident occurred around 5 pm on Tuesday near the entrance of Adoshi Tunnel on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway, when a Bharat Petroleum tanker carrying propylene overturned while navigating a curve. Shortly 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 dangerous and potentially explosive. Following the gas leak, the Pune-Mumbai expressway corridor was completely closed to vehicular traffic.
BPCL-NDRF operation to control gas leak
Teams from Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) launched an operation to control the gas leak and traffic on both highway corridors was stopped for safety reasons. Traffic from some earlier points was also diverted towards the old Pune-Mumbai highway. This caused long queues of up to 20 kilometers on the highway.
Meanwhile, in the early hours of Wednesday, the flow of vehicles began on the Mumbai-Pune corridor. Then, once the leak was partially controlled, the authorities decided to transfer the gas from the damaged truck to two or three empty tanker trucks. This operation began around 6 pm on Wednesday and lasted until 2 am on Thursday.