2 minutes of readingPuneFebruary 5, 2026 08:29 pm IST
Traffic on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway, a vital line between the two metros, resumed early on Thursday.
One of the longest in history, Traffic interruptions of more than 32 hours. was reported on the highway after a tanker truck carrying highly flammable propylene gas overturned on the road. BombayCorridor bound for Adoshi tunnel in Raigad district on Tuesday night.
Vikrant Deshmukh, Superintendent, Highway Safety Patrol (HSP), Puneconfirmed that traffic on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway returned to normal around 2 on Thursday after the transfer of gas from the damaged tanker to empty tankers was completed safely in a high-risk operation.
“After completion of gas transfer, traffic resumed on both the highway corridors. It took a few hours for the traffic situation to normalize as a large number of heavy vehicles were passing on the highway,” 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.
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.
Story continues below this ad.
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.