Industrialist takes helicopter after being stuck for 8 hours on Mumbai-Pune Expressway
Pune (PTI): Pune-based industrialist Sudhir Mehta took a helicopter to return to the city after being stranded for eight hours on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway due to a massive traffic jam caused by an overturned gas tanker.
Commuters were stuck on the expressway for over 30 hours after the tanker accident on Tuesday evening, as it led to the suspension of traffic movement for safety reasons due to leakage of the highly flammable gas from the vehicle.
Sudhir Mehta, Chairman of Pinnacle Industries and EKA Mobility, in a post on X, said he took a helicopter to get back to Pune on Wednesday after being stuck for eight hours.
He also posted some aerial shots of the massive 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.
"Lacs of people are stuck on the #Mumbai #Pune expressway for the last 18 hours for "one gas tanker". For such emergencies, there should be planned exit points at different locations on the expressway which can be opened to allow vehicles to return," Mehta said in his post on Wednesday.
Helipads cost less than Rs 10 lakh to build and require less than an acre of land. These should be made mandatory at various points near the expressway for emergency evacuation, he suggested.
Traffic on the Mumbai-bound carriageway of Mumbai-Pune Expressway was restored early on Thursday, 33 hours after the tanker overturned in the hilly Khandala Ghat section, officials said.
The tanker, which carried the highly flammable propylene gas, was removed from the accident site near the Adoshi tunnel in the ghat section, allowing the resumption of traffic at 1.46 am, an official from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) said.
The Mumbai-Pune Expressway is India's first 6-lane concrete, access-controlled tolled expressway. It spans a distance of 94.5 km connecting Mumbai, Raigad and Navi Mumbai with Pune.
The tanker overturned on the Mumbai-bound carriageway around 5 pm on Tuesday, triggering a massive traffic congestion that left thousands of vehicles stranded for hours on the busy expressway.
Lines of stationary vehicles stretched for as far as 20 km at the peak of congestion. Passengers, including women and children, remain stranded in their vehicles for several hours without food, water, or toilet facilities.
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Shashi Tharoor’s son Ishaan laid off as Washington Post cuts nearly one-third of its newsroom
Washington DC: Ishaan Tharoor, senior international affairs columnist at The Washington Post and son of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, is among more than 300 journalists laid off as the newspaper undertook one of the largest staff reductions in its history.
The layoffs, which affect nearly one-third of the Post’s newsroom, are part of a major restructuring effort amid financial pressure and shifting reader habits. The newspaper, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has shut down its sports desk, scaled back international coverage, closed several foreign bureaus, and discontinued its books section.
Confirming his exit on social media, Ishaan Tharoor described the moment as deeply painful. Sharing an image from the newsroom bearing the Post’s slogan “Democracy Dies in Darkness,” he captioned it, “A bad day.” In a later post, he wrote that he had been laid off along with most of the international team and expressed heartbreak for colleagues who reported from across the world.
According to The New York Times, the layoffs impact over 300 journalists out of a total newsroom strength of around 800. Several prominent reporters confirmed their departures, including Ukraine correspondent Lizzie Johnson, who said she was laid off while reporting from a war zone, and New Delhi bureau chief Pranshu Verma, who called it a devastating moment for the newsroom.
Reflecting on his tenure, Tharoor noted that he launched the WorldView column in 2017 to help readers understand global affairs and the United States’ role in the world. He thanked the column’s readers and subscribers for their support over the years.
In a message to staff, Executive Editor Matt Murray said the decision was difficult but unavoidable, citing rapid technological changes, evolving audience behaviour, and the need for the paper to refocus its priorities. “We can’t be everything to everyone,” he wrote, according to the Associated Press.
Founded in 1877, The Washington Post was acquired by Jeff Bezos in 2013 for $250 million. The latest cuts come amid a broader crisis facing legacy news organisations worldwide as advertising revenues decline and digital subscriptions plateau.
