Passengers on the Mumbai–Pune Expressway are once again stuck in a traffic chaos. After the chemical gas tanker accident near Adoshi tunnel which has created 32 hours jams on crucial linkage of two cities, trouble A cement container breakdown near Lonavala, bringing the highway to a halt again on 3rd straight day. Long, slow-moving queues stretching nearly 20 kilometres were seen from Lonavala.
Earlier, on Tuesday, vehicular traffic had been stopped for several hours for safety reasons after a gas tanker overturned near the Adoshi tunnel. The administration managed to remove the tanker after 32 hours of continuous work. But the gridlock has returned. A cement container heading towards Mumbai got stuck between Talegaon and Malavali Raigad district, completely disrupting the flow of vehicles.
At present, queues on the expressway stretch for 11 to 12 kilometres. The situation is so severe that drivers are taking hours to cover just two kilometres. Children and elderly passengers are facing hardship due to the cold and the lack of food and water.
Authorities at the spot and are working to remove the blocked cement container. To ease congestion, some light vehicles are being diverted to the old Mumbai–Pune highway. However, traffic is expected to remain slow until the container is fully cleared.
One of the commuter Nitesh Kamble says, " Yesterday afternoon we left to go to Mumbai, but due to traffic we had to stop here at night, hoping things would be normal by morning. However, the traffic situation is the same even today. All vehicles are being forced to take a U-turn from the toll ahead. We have been stuck here since yesterday, and no information is being given to us..."
Commuters and their family took to social media platform to express their frustration.
"I am boarded 6am bus, smoothly reach talegaon toll naka, got stuck after toll naka for almost 3 hrs, then started moving, now reached near Sinhgad College non stop, but now moving slow," a commuter wrote on X.
"Was stuck ahead talegaon toll naka for 2 hrs, now moving," a commuter update on traffic near Talegaon.