Mumbai Pune Expressway industrialist escapes from helicopter: A renowned businessman also got stuck in the huge traffic jam caused by the overturning of a gas tanker on the country’s first expressway Mumbai-Pune. There was a jam situation on this expressway for about 30 hours.
The car of Pune industrialist Sudhir Mehta also got stuck in this. However, after being stranded for eight hours, he reached Pune with the help of a helicopter.
Commuters were stranded on the expressway for over 30 hours following the tanker accident on Tuesday evening as traffic was halted for safety reasons due to leakage of highly flammable gas from the overturned vehicle. Sudhir Mehta, chairman of Pinnacle Industries and EKA Mobility, said in a post on social media platform ‘X’ that he returned to Pune by helicopter on Wednesday after being stranded for eight hours. He also posted some aerial photographs of the heavy traffic jam on the expressway.
Reacting to the prolonged traffic disruption, he said such incidents highlight the need for better emergency preparedness on high-speed corridors like the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. Mehta said in his post on Wednesday, “Lakhs of people have been stranded on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway for the last 18 hours because of ‘a gas tanker’.” For such emergencies, there should be planned exit points at various places on the expressway which can be opened to allow vehicles to return.
Suggested construction of helipad
He suggested that building a helipad costs less than Rs 10 lakh and requires less than an acre of land. He said that these should be made mandatory at various places near the expressway for emergency evacuation.
Officials said traffic was restored on the Mumbai-bound route of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway late on Wednesday night, 33 hours after the tanker overturned in the hilly Khandala Ghat section.