Over the past two days, traffic on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway has been reduced for hours, leaving thousands of commuters stranded on the ghat section near Lonavala and Khandala. The disruption has once again highlighted the vulnerability of India’s busiest intercity highway and the urgency of its long-overdue expansion.
Why was there a huge traffic jam on the Bombay–Pune Highway in the last two days?
Traffic came to a standstill after a tanker carrying flammable propylene gas overturned near Adoshi tunnel in Khandala ghat section around 5 pm on Tuesday. The tanker began leaking gas, raising fears of a fire and explosion. As a safety measure, Mumbai-bound vehicles were diverted towards Pune, while only one lane was kept open for Mumbai-bound traffic. Many vehicles were also pushed onto the old Mumbai-Pune expressway, part of NH48. The accident occurred on a steep and curving ghat stretch, making recovery operations slow and risky. Although the Maharashtra State Highway Development Corporation later brought the leak under control and started trying to straighten the tanker, traffic remained severely disrupted for hours. Travelers reported being stranded for between eight and 13 hours.
Why does an accident on this stretch cause disruption of such magnitude?
The Khandala ghat section is the most vulnerable part of the highway. It has sharp curves, steep slopes, tunnels and heavy tourist traffic heading towards Lonavala and Khandala. It also transports fuel tankers and vehicles that transport hazardous chemicals. When an accident occurs with this type of vehicle, it is necessary to completely stop traffic for safety reasons. Without a high-capacity parallel alternative route, vehicles quickly pile up on both the highway and the old road, causing long traffic jams.
Q) What is the history of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway?
The Mumbai-Pune Expressway was India’s first six-lane, access-controlled concrete expressway and opened in the early 2000s. Built by the MSRDC, it reduced travel time between Mumbai and Pune from nearly five hours to about two and a half hours. The expressway boosted trade, industry and tourism between the two cities and boosted development in areas like Khopoli, Lonavala and Talegaon. However, the section of ghats between Khopoli and Kusgaon remained problematic from the beginning because it passes through the Western Ghats and follows a winding alignment of hills.
Q) Why is the expansion of the highway considered necessary?
Traffic volumes on the highway have far exceeded what it was designed for two decades ago. Weekend tourist traffic, container trucks and hazardous materials transporters converge on the same stretch of the ghat. This makes the route accident-prone and very sensitive to any disruption. Even a single breakdown or accident can paralyze or slow down traffic for hours, as seen in the tanker accident. To address this structural weakness, planners proposed avoiding the ghat section altogether rather than attempting to widen or straighten it.
Story continues below this ad.
Q) What is the Mumbai-Pune Expressway Missing Link Project?
The Missing Link is a new 13.3 km alignment between Khopoli and Kusgaon that will replace the existing 19.8 km ghat stretch. Instead of passing through Lonavala and Khandala, the new route traverses hills and deep valleys through tunnels, viaducts and a cable-stayed bridge. The project includes a tunnel of about 1.64 km from the Khopoli side, followed by a 650-metre cable-stayed bridge across the Tiger Valley and another long tunnel of about 8.9 km leading towards Kusgaon. Work on the project began in 2019 and was originally scheduled for completion in 2022, but was delayed due to the Covid pandemic and engineering challenges. It is now expected to open around May 2026.
Q) Why was the Missing Link considered necessary?
Currently, vehicles have to negotiate steep slopes and hairpin bends through Lonavala and Khandala, a stretch prone to accidents and highly congested during weekends and holidays. The missing link will skip this section entirely. By providing a straighter and shorter route, it aims to remove traffic from the ghat section and reduce the pressure caused by tourist vehicles heading to the hill stations.
Q) How will Missing Link help travelers once it opens?
Story continues below this ad.
The new alignment will shorten the distance between Mumbai and Pune by about 6 km and reduce travel time by about 30 minutes. By diverting traffic from the winding ghat road, it is hoped to reduce the risk of accidents and avoid long traffic jams caused by breakdowns or collisions on the hills. The approach road from the Mumbai side is also being widened from six to eight lanes, which will help manage the traffic volume more efficiently. Officials say that, except for local vehicles and some dangerous cargo carriers, most long-distance traffic will move to the Missing Link.
Q) What safety and technology features will the expanded route have?
The tunnels will be equipped with water mist fire control systems, automated traffic monitoring, variable speed limit systems, automatic license plate recognition cameras and voice evacuation systems. Its objective is to improve emergency response and reduce deaths in accidents. The design also avoids sharp curves and steep grades, allowing vehicles to maintain more constant speeds.
Q) What does the latest traffic jam reveal about the limitations of the highway?
Story continues below this ad.
The tanker accident has once again exposed how dependent the Mumbai-Pune corridor is on a single vulnerable stretch of ghat. Until the Missing Link opens, any major accident on this section can stop traffic for hours and leave travelers stranded without basic services. Once the new alignment comes into operation, authorities expect these large-scale disruptions to become much less frequent, offering commuters a faster, safer and more reliable journey between Maharashtra’s two largest cities.