Mumbai: Just hours after traffic was restored on the Mumbai–Pune Expressway following a massive 32-hour gridlock, commuters were once again caught in long queues on Friday morning, February 6, after a vehicle broke down near Bhor Ghat.
The fresh disruption brought movement to a near standstill in the early hours, with several vehicles stranded on the ghat stretch. Officials said traffic conditions would only improve once the affected vehicles were cleared and the route was fully opened.
According to a report by Lokmat Times, long lines of vehicles were seen between the Amrutanjan Bridge and the Khalapur Toll Plaza. The situation was particularly slow in the Khopoli belt.
This news comes a day after authorities cleared a prolonged traffic jam that had stretched for nearly 32 hours on the Mumbai-Pune expressway. The earlier gridlock had left thousands of commuters stranded, triggering criticism over traffic management on one of the state’s busiest corridors.
Commuters have taken to X (formally Twitter), to complain about the congestion on the ghat. With one user, Inder Anand, saying ‘Mumbai Pune expressway 4th day today and Ghat is still jammed....we are in the stone age looks like.... it's 6th Feb.’
In response, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) to conduct an inquiry into the incident and submit a detailed report with recommendations to prevent similar disruptions in the near future.
Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde also reviewed the situation and instructed officials to draw up an emergency traffic management plan, while speeding up work on the long-pending missing link project.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray criticised the administration, saying commuters had suffered greatly while authorities only announced another inquiry. Referring to repeated incidents on the expressway, he questioned whether the government would learn from past mistakes.
Furthermore, Thackeray said that halting traffic after a tanker overturned on February 3 was a necessary safety step, but added that the administration should have had a system in place to clear the road swiftly and minimise disruption.
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