“As soon as the leak was detected, we had no option but to completely close the Pune-Mumbai corridor. Teams from Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and the National Disaster Response Force, NDRF, were called to the spot. As efforts were launched to control the leak, traffic on both highway corridors had to be stopped for safety reasons. Traffic from some earlier points was also diverted towards the old Pune Mumbai Expressway, which is part of National Highway 48. The additional traffic caused a slowdown of traffic on the old motorway, resulting in long queues, between 10 and 12 kilometers long, forming at one point on the motorway.” said Tanaji Chikhale, superintendent of police, Raigad division of the Maharashtra state highway police.

“In the early hours of Wednesday, we started the flow of vehicles on the Mumbai to Pune corridor. Of the three lanes on this corridor, two lanes were allocated for Mumbai to Pune traffic and one lane for Pune to Mumbai traffic. This started clearing the long queues. Considering the time taken, this was possibly one of the longest traffic disruptions on the Pune Mumbai Expressway.” Chikhale added.

“After bringing the leak under control to some extent, a decision was made to transfer the gas from the damaged truck to three empty tankers. This operation began around 6pm on Wednesday and is expected to be completed by 9pm. Once the transfer is complete, the overturned truck will be uprighted and removed from the site.” Chikhale added.

The stretch of National Highway 48 between Pune and Mumbai is known as Old Mumbai Pune Highway. Before the six-lane motorway came into operation in the early 2000s, the old motorway was the only direct road link between two metros. The 94-kilometer expressway has witnessed heavy traffic jams at the Ghat sections due to high volume of traffic, including heavy vehicles.

The Missing Link under construction between Pune and Mumbai has been designed to bypass the congested Lonavala-Khandala ghat section and reduce the travel time between the two cities by nearly 25-30 minutes. Once completed, the elevated corridor and tunnel are expected to significantly ease traffic pressure on the ghat section with its hairpin bends.