Overview
- Police eased the buildup by briefly blocking the Mumbai-bound side for 20 minutes, staging releases on the Pune lane, allowing U-turns, and taking three alternating lane blocks.
- One of the three Pune-bound lanes was closed for IRB Infrastructure repair work that began Wednesday and is slated to take about 48 hours.
- Officials said volumes swelled due to the holiday and weekend travel, slowing movement on both Pune- and Mumbai-bound corridors.
- By afternoon on February 19, officials reported that traffic flow had improved and returned to normal on the expressway.
- Videos showed long queues near the Khandala tunnel and some motorists stepping out, with concerns heightened by a 32–33 hour propylene tanker incident earlier this month near the Adoshi tunnel.