Pune, 1st May 2026: A massive traffic jam was reported on the Mumbai–Pune Expressway as a long weekend prompted thousands of commuters to hit the road. The congestion was especially severe on the Mumbai-to-Pune stretch, where vehicles were stranded for hours due to repeated halts in traffic movement.
The situation worsened near the Lonavala section, with a long queue of vehicles stretching from the Amrutanjan Bridge to the Khopoli exit. Highway police attempted to manage the situation by implementing a 15-minute traffic block on the Pune-bound lane, but traffic continued to move slowly, causing inconvenience to commuters since morning.
Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who arrived for the inauguration of the Mumbai–Pune Missing Link project, took note of the situation and instructed officials to stop collecting toll from stranded vehicles.
He said that the congestion was clearly visible even from the air and asked authorities to deploy additional police personnel and allow vehicles to pass without toll to ease the situation.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the much-anticipated Missing Link project. However, the event coincided with peak traffic hours, further worsening congestion on the expressway. Several commuters reportedly remained stuck for up to six hours.
Even MP Supriya Sule experienced the traffic jam and shared visuals from the Khopoli–Khandala ghat section, highlighting the scale of the issue before the inauguration began.
Following the chaos, Fadnavis apologized to commuters for the inconvenience caused. He acknowledged the difficulties faced by travellers and assured that the newly opened Missing Link route would help reduce congestion on the expressway in the future.
