Maharashtra
30-Hour Jam On Mumbai–Pune Expressway: Why Do Accidents & Traffic Chaos Keep Repeating On Maharashtra’s Most Crucial Road?
Pune: There is no debate that Mumbai and Pune are indeed the two biggest cities in Maharashtra, and it leaves little room for doubt that the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, which connects these two cities, is one of the most crucial roads in the state. However, once again, the debate over the condition of this supposed ‘state-of-the-art’ infrastructure has gained momentum. From Tuesday at 5 pm to Wednesday night at around 10 pm, the expressway was stuck in an unprecedented 30-hour traffic jam.
A tanker carrying highly flammable propylene gas overturned near the Adoshi Tunnel (km 41), within the Raigad district limits on the Pune–Mumbai Expressway, at around 5:00 pm on Tuesday. Authorities took nearly 30 hours to remove the tanker, which was finally cleared from the area near the tunnel at around 10:00 pm on Wednesday.
When the tanker overturned, a leak of propylene gas began. To avoid any potential major catastrophe, the Mumbai-bound traffic was completely shut down, while Pune-bound traffic from Mumbai was allowed to continue with extreme caution. It is reported that the accident occurred after the driver lost control of the vehicle. Teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), and chemical experts were deployed to handle the situation.
The accident caused a 60-km queue from the Adoshi Tunnel back to Kiwale (the start of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway from the Pune side). Using the internal links, the vehicles were released on the Old Mumbai-Pune Highway, which resulted in traffic congestion between Kamshet and Lonavala. Passengers heading to Mumbai Airport, critical patients with hospital appointments, and regular commuters remain stuck.
Commuters were left stranded without food or water, with many taking over eight hours to complete a journey that normally takes three-and-a-half to four hours. The expressway was cleared late Wednesday night, only for a cement truck to meet with another accident near the Lonavala stretch in the wee hours of Thursday. It triggered yet another traffic jam. Though the mishap was minor, it was enough to disrupt traffic once again. These back-to-back incidents have reignited debate over the Mumbai–Pune Expressway. Questions are being raised about why accidents and traffic congestion continue to plague the corridor.
– 15th August 2023: Five-vehicle collision near Khalapur Toll Plaza; three members of a family killed.
– 23rd April 2023: A private bus fell into a gorge at Borghat; 13 dead, over 25 injured.
– 25th March 2021: A tanker-car collision near Lonavala triggered a gas leak and resulted in two deaths.
– 16th June 2020: A chemical tanker overturned near Amrutanjan Bridge. Four people were burnt alive.
– 18th March 2019: Three cars collided while overtaking; five fatalities.
Currently, the stretch between Khalapur Toll Plaza and Lonavala is winding and steep. This area frequently sees major accidents, landslides, and traffic jams.
Madhusudhan Divekar, a frequent traveller of the expressway, said, “Every morning, the stretch from Khopoli to Lonavala has a traffic jam. The train journey usually takes four hours from Pune to Mumbai. However, with road transport, it should be less, but because of frequent traffic, the time always increases. No one is even talking about the traffic jam one experiences when they enter Mumbai or Pune cities.”
Divekar, along with many other commuters, thinks that this problem will be solved in the future as the ‘Missing Link’ project is underway. This 13 km stretch is expected to open in the coming months. It features a 10.8 km tunnel and a bridge approximately 180 feet high. By bypassing the difficult Ghat section, this new route will reduce travel time between Pune and Mumbai by 20–25 minutes and shorten the distance by 6 km.
The 13.3 km “Missing Link” project on the Mumbai–Pune Expressway is a major upgrade that bypasses the winding Khandala–Lonavala ghat section with tunnels, viaducts and a high cable-stayed bridge. This project aims to improve safety and cut travel time by around 30 minutes while shortening the distance by about 6 km. The Rs 6,600+ crore project is in its final stages and is expected to open to traffic in May 2026 after repeated delays.
– Overspeeding: High speeds often result in sudden loss of vehicle control. The speed limit on the Mumbai–Pune Expressway is 100 kmph for cars and 80 kmph for heavy vehicles. However, to control the speed, from time to time, speed cameras are in place, and people know when they have to follow the speed limit. During other times, the speed limit is simply not followed.
– Highway Hypnosis: Long, straight stretches cause drivers to enter a trance-like state. Psychologists believe it reduces reaction time despite being awake. Expressway stretches are filled with similar-looking scenes, especially from Kiwale to Lonavala.
– Concrete Surface & Tyre Bursts: The majority of the city roads are made of asphalt in Pune and Mumbai. But an expressway is made of concrete. Concrete retains more heat than asphalt. At high speeds, heat and friction cause air inside tyres to expand. This many times leads to sudden bursts, especially in old or under-inflated tyres. Also, breaking judgement changes with the change in surface.
– Lane Discipline Violations: Heavy vehicles frequently move out of the left lane to overtake. Vehicles that move slowly should stick to the left lane to avoid people overtaking them from the right. But heavy and slow-moving vehicle drivers don’t follow this rule. This forces fast-moving vehicles to brake abruptly or change lanes, which increases collision risk.
– Faulty Tail Lamps: Broken or dust-covered tail lamps on trucks make it difficult to judge distance at night. In some ghat spaces, the visibility on the expressway is low. This results in rear-end crashes many times, as light motor vehicles hit heavy vehicles from behind.
– Khandala Ghat Descent: Continuous braking on steep slopes overheats brake liners, particularly for heavy vehicles. Brake failure in heavy vehicles often leads to loss of control and accidents. A similar trend is also seen on the Navale Bridge on the Katraj-Dehu Road bypass section of the Mumbai-Bengaluru Highway.
– Nitrogen-filled tyres to reduce overheating and burst risk
– Mandatory rest breaks for drivers, especially during early morning hours
– Strict action on lane violations, including licence suspension
– Improved reflectors and signage for fog and monsoon conditions
– Mandatory tyre inspection points at toll plazas and food malls
– Enhanced camera surveillance to penalise speeding and lane cutting
– Additional emergency escape ramps in ghat sections
1) Holiday & Weekend Surges: Large spikes in vehicle numbers during long weekends or festive breaks overwhelm the capacity of the highway. It causes slow-moving traffic and long queues, especially in ghat sections.
2) Ghat Bottlenecks: Steep gradients and narrow stretches in the Khandala–Bor Ghat significantly slow traffic, creating persistent chokepoints. In this section, the four-lane old highway and the six-lane expressway merge for traffic from Maval tehsil, effectively squeezing ten lanes into six and resulting in severe congestion.
3) Vehicle Breakdowns: Cars or heavy vehicles breaking down on key stretches block lanes and worsen gridlocks.
4) Maintenance Closures: Unplanned or late-night roadwork narrowing lanes can create bottlenecks that take hours to clear.
5) Overall High Number of Vehicles: The Mumbai–Pune Expressway serves as a vital link between Maharashtra’s two most important cities and carries a massive volume of daily commuters. Due to this consistently high traffic load, even a single disruption quickly results in hours-long congestion across the corridor.
6) The “No-Exit” Trap: The Bor Ghat section of the Mumbai–Pune Expressway creates a dangerous “no-exit” zone spanning nearly 20 km between Khalapur and Kusgaon. The stretch is carved into the mountains and lined with tunnels, and the stretch has no service roads, U-turns, or local exits.
Maharashtra
Municipal Commissioner directed to complete work on Bhandup Water Purification Project to ensure safe water supply to Mumbai

The state-of-the-art 2,000 million litres per day (MLPD) water treatment plant to be set up at the Bhandup Complex will significantly enhance the efficiency, transparency and resilience of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region’s water supply system. The project will help Mumbaikars get better quality, safe and sustainable drinking water as per national and international standards. Considering the growing population of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, the pace of urbanisation, the growth of the industrial and commercial sector, as well as the increasing demand for water in the future, it is a key infrastructure project for Mumbai’s long-term water security. Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide has directed that all necessary steps be taken to expedite all civil, structural, electrical, mechanical and process engineering works related to this water treatment project and complete the project ahead of schedule. A state-of-the-art Water Treatment Plant (WTP) with a capacity of 2,000 million litres per day (MLD) is being set up by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) at Bhandup Complex. The water treatment project is expected to be completed by July 2028. Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide visited the site of the water treatment project today (June 17, 2026) and inspected it. He also reviewed the progress.
Additional Municipal Commissioner (Project) Abhijit Bangar, Deputy Commissioner (Municipal Commissioner’s Office) Prashant Gaikwad, Deputy Commissioner (Special Engineering) Parshottam Malwade, Deputy Commissioner (Engineering) Shri. Shashank Bhoor, Chief Engineer (Water Supply Project) Chandrakant Choudhary, Chief Engineer (Mumbai Sewerage Project) Ashok Mengade, Chief Engineer (Bridges) Rajesh Mulla along with concerned engineers and officers were present on the occasion. There are two main systems for supplying water to Mumbai. From one of them, through the Tansa-Vitarna system, water from Tansa, Modak Sagar, Madhya Vitrna and Upper Vitrna dams is brought to the Bhandup Complex by gravity through water channels. This water is purified at the water purification centre in the Bhandup Complex. About 2500 million litres of water is supplied to the people of Mumbai daily through water reservoirs located at various locations. The 1910 million litres per day water purification project in the Bhandup Complex was built about 43 years ago. As the project has become structurally weak, a new water treatment project is being set up with a capacity of 2,000 million litres per day (MLD). The new water treatment project will process 2,000 million litres per day (MLD) of water. This water treatment project is crucial to increasing the capacity of the Bhandup Complex, which supplies water to the western and eastern suburbs of Mumbai.
Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide said that the new water treatment project on 7.4 hectares of land in the Bhandup Complex will replace the existing project, which is the largest in Asia. It will help provide clean water to Mumbai. Its main objective is to meet the growing demand for water and replace the old project, which has reached the end of its life. Currently, soil testing, excavation, site clearance, relocation of power lines, tree planting, etc. are in full swing. Along with the construction works, mechanical, electrical and instrumentation work has also been started in parallel. The project works should be completed expeditiously by making additional manpower and machinery available. Instructions have been given to plan for excavation, radar transportation. Overall, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is committed to bridging the gap between the demand and supply of water for Mumbaikars. Bhandup Sewage Treatment Plant to be functional by October 2026.
The work of the 215 million litres per day (MLD) capacity sewage treatment plant project in Bhandup is in the final stages. Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide inspected the work today (June 17, 2026). Bhide directed that the project be fully implemented by October 2026.
In view of environmental protection in Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is setting up sewage treatment plants at a total of 7 locations. Under this, the work of Sewage Treatment Plant project is underway in Bhandup. Under this, the construction work of Primary Treatment Unit, Primary Clarifier, Continuous Sequencing Batch Reactor Tank, Air Blower Building and Digesters etc. has been completed. Mrs. Bhide inspected all the works and took detailed information.
Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide said that the state-of-the-art Sewage Treatment Plant with a capacity of 215 million litres per day in Bhandup will be an important milestone for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
Maharashtra
Eknath Shinde’s Operation Tiger was successful… Uddhav Thackeray’s rebellion in Shiv Sena UBT, Sanjay Raut is angry

Mumbai: Operation Tiger has been successful. Shinde Sena has succeeded in forcing 6 MPs of Shiv Sena UBT to form another group, after which the rebellion has started again in UBT. The independent group has also been approved by the Lok Sabha Speaker. Now these 6 MPs can soon merge with Shiv Sena Shinde Party. After Operation Gaigar, Uddhav Thackeray group MP Sanjay Raut addressed a press conference and said that despite what Uddhav Thackeray did not do for these MPs, these people have acted dishonestly. This is dishonest. It is said that the rebel MPs are camped in Delhi and will merge with the Shinde group in the next two days. The operation in the state has been going on for the past several days and in June, a meeting of the India Alliance was also held in Delhi. In this meeting, Home Minister Amit Shah gave the green signal to Operation Tiger. The rebel MPs of the Thackeray group have been accommodated in a five-star hotel in Delhi. On Sunday, Uddhav Thackeray also held a meeting of his MPs in which five MPs attended the online meeting, due to which no one suspected them. This is the second biggest split in the Shiv Sena. After the rebellion of the Shiv Sena MPs, the Shiv Sena has become completely weakened. These rebel MPs include Sanjay Deshmukh, Ayut Mahal, Sanjay Jadhav, Parbhani, Sanjay Dina Patel, Mumbai, Nagesh Patil, Hingoli, Amarraje, Nimbalkar, Dhara Shiv. There is resentment in Shiv Sena after the rebellion of these MPs. Sanjay Raut is angry with them. He says that Uddhav Thackeray did so much for them but these people became dishonest.
Maharashtra
Muslim students deprived of government schemes… Only Hindu candidates are accepted for drone pilot training scheme: Raees Sheikh

Mumbai: Raising the issue of Muslim youth and students being deprived of the government’s ‘Amrit’ institute schemes, Samajwadi Party MLA from Bhiwandi East Raees Sheikh has said that applications are being accepted for the drone pilot training programme of the institute run by the state government’s Other Backward Classes Welfare Department, while online applications from Muslim candidates are not being accepted. In his letter to Minister Atal Seo and the Chief Executive Officer of Maharashtra Research, Advancement and Training (AMRUT) Institute, MLA Raees Sheikh said that the Amrit Institute has invited applications till June 30 for drone pilot training which is aimed at candidates from Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of the open category. “However, when applicants try to fill the online form, they are required to provide information about their religion and caste. The portal offers caste options only for Hindu communities, which prevents Muslim applicants from successfully submitting their applications.” Sheikh said he had received several complaints regarding this issue. Pointing out that the Amrit Institute aims to serve the economically weaker sections in the open category, he said that as an autonomous government institution, the founding government resolution (August 22, 2019) of Amrit does not mention any specific religion. It aims to work for different communities in the open category. Therefore, restricting applications in this manner is against the rules, he claimed. The Maharashtra government has set up several institutions for different social groups, including Barati, Aarti, Sarathi, Mahajyoti, Marti, and Amrit. While each institution may focus on a specific target group, it can be limited to a certain extent. They also provide training opportunities to and benefits to other communities. Sheikh added that unemployment is currently a major concern for youth of all castes and religions across the state. He said, “The Amritsar should not interpret the rules in such a way that Muslim youth are deprived of skilling opportunities. Minister Atul Sivaji, who heads the Other Backward Bahujan Welfare Department, should ensure that Muslim youth are not excluded from these training programmes.”
-
Crime4 years agoClass 10 student jumps to death in Jaipur
-
Maharashtra2 years agoMumbai Local Train Update: Central Railway’s New Timetable Comes Into Effect; Check Full List Of Revised Timings & Stations
-
Maharashtra2 years agoMumbai To Go Toll-Free Tonight! Maharashtra Govt Announces Complete Toll Waiver For Light Motor Vehicles At All 5 Entry Points Of City
-
Maharashtra2 years agoFalse photo of Imtiaz Jaleel’s rally, exposing the fooling conspiracy
-
National News2 years agoMinistry of Railways rolls out Special Drive 4.0 with focus on digitisation, cleanliness, inclusiveness and grievance redressal
-
Maharashtra2 years agoMaharashtra Elections 2024: Mumbai Metro & BEST Services Extended Till Midnight On Voting Day
-
National News2 years agoJ&K: 4 Jawans Killed, 28 Injured After Bus Carrying BSF Personnel For Poll Duty Falls Into Gorge In Budgam; Terrifying Visuals Surface
-
Crime2 years agoBaba Siddique Murder: Mumbai Police Unable To Get Lawrence Bishnoi Custody Due To Home Ministry Order, Says Report
