Vehicles remained stationary near the accident site overnight, leaving passengers, including women and children, without food, water, or toilet facilities. Amid the traffic chaos, the disruption extended for more than 12 km by morning
Commuters found themselves stuck at the Mumbai-Pune Expressway after a CNG tanker overturned in the middle of the road, rendering it unusable for several hours. The tanker accident occurred on Tuesday, and the situation was still not better 18 hours later on Wednesday.
Vehicles remained stationary near the accident site overnight, leaving passengers, including women and children, without food, water, or toilet facilities. Amid the traffic chaos, the disruption extended for more than 12 km by morning.
Due to the nature of the accident, where flammable propylene gas started leaking from the tanker, teams of NDRF, SDRF, and BPCL were dispatched to the location to help with the cleaning up process, and operations may go on till Wednesday evening, officials have said.
A #chemical tanker overturned near the Adoshi tunnel in the #Khandala Ghat section of the #Mumbai-Pune Yashwantrao Chavan #Expressway last evening, causing a massive #traffic jam on the Mumbai-#Pune Expressway that lasted for several hours. pic.twitter.com/YCIGERDl30
— mishikasingh (@mishika_singh) February 4, 2026
What happened?
The accident took place near the Adoshi tunnel in the Raigad district, where the CNG tanker allegedly travelling at high speed, lost control due to the slope and overturned. Soon after the accident, gas was found leaking from the tanker, causing panic among motorists.
Since the tanker was carrying propylene gas, the police cordoned off the area, restricting traffic movement on the road.
The Mumbai-bound traffic was diverted onto the Pune-bound carriageway for about a 2-km stretch due to the accident.
However, normal movement could not be restored due to a continuous gas leak from the tanker, resulting in long queues and crawling traffic even for Pune-bound motorists, an official at the expressway control room said.
Accident triggers traffic snarls
Many commuters took to X to express their frustration over the incident, with many blaming authorities for not finding a quicker fix to the issue.
“People have been stuck and desperately waiting for help. Please do something,” wrote an X user.
Just came from the Mumbai to Pune expressway side, the side going towards Mumbai from Malavli to Madap is caught up in an historic traffic where people are sleeping in their vehicles,entire expressway is shut! @nitin_gadkari @RaigadPolice @Dev_Fadnavis @DefenceBrat @nachiket1982 pic.twitter.com/sZehwKsEhN
— °~Tejas Shelar~° (@TejasShelar2498) February 3, 2026
A conductor of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus told PTI around midnight that their vehicle had been stationary for over six hours near the accident site, leaving passengers without food, water and toilet facilities.
Another X user said, “Over 1 hour stuck in massive traffic on the Mumbai Pune Expressway. Tolls are collected efficiently when will commuters get efficient roads?”
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