Traffic Chaos on Pune-Satara Highway as Five-Vehicle Pileup Causes Delays

Pune, 27th January 2024: An accident involving five vehicles on the Pune-Satara highway Saturday morning led to significant traffic disruption near Sevadi, with the National Highway Authority’s crane failing to reach the accident site promptly.

The incident occurred in Sevadi, where a tempo broke the divider and collided with a pole on Friday night. Subsequently, a large pileup unfolded as three vehicles—a state transport bus, a pick-up truck, and a motorcar—came to a halt due to the fallen structure of the divider. A speeding truck then hit these vehicles from behind, causing the motorcar to fall off the flyover. Miraculously, the ST bus managed to avoid falling from the bridge, preventing a potential catastrophe. Fortunately, no severe injuries were reported among the occupants of the vehicles.

Despite the prompt response from the Rajgad police and eyewitnesses, the National Highway Authority’s crane, responsible for handling accidents and emergencies, failed to reach the accident site for nearly three hours. This delay forced authorities to use a private crane to clear the vehicles from the road, resulting in a prolonged traffic jam that inconvenienced commuters for the same duration.

BJ Sharma of the patrolling team expressed frustration, stating that the contractor responsible for providing the crane had not dispatched it to the accident site due to an overdue bill. This delay hindered the efforts to mobilize alternative cranes promptly.