Dr Sudhir Mehta, chairman of EKA Mobility and Pinnacle Industries, has drawn the spotlight after he took a helicopter to reach Pune as he was stranded in a massive traffic jam on the Mumbai-Pune expressway
for eight hours.
The traffic chaos on the expressway arose after a gas tanker overturned at around 4:45 P.M. on Tuesday, causing highly flammable propylene to leak. After hours of collective efforts by the Fire Brigade, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Help Foundation, and some chemical experts, vehicular movements were restored on the expressway at around 1:30 A.M. on Thursday.
Sharing aerial footage of the miles-long traffic jam on ‘X’, Mehta flagged concerns over the infrastructure, calling for strategic placement of emergency exits and helipads to avoid such situations.
“Lacs of people are stuck on the #Mumbai #Pune expressway for the last 18 hours for ‘one gas tanker’. For such emergencies we need to plan exits at different points on expressway which can be opened to allow vehicles to return,” Mehta wrote in a post on ‘X’.
Lacs of people are stuck on the #Mumbai #Pune expressway for the last 18 hours for “one gas tanker “ . For such emergencies we need to plan exits at different points on expressway which can be opened to allow vehicles to return. Helipads cost less than Rs 10 lacs to make and… pic.twitter.com/u2EooiKjh3
— Dr. Sudhir Mehta (@sudhirmehtapune) February 4, 2026
“Helipads cost less than Rs 10 lacs to make and require less than one acre of open area. These need to be mandatory at various points near the expressway for emergency evacuation”, he added.
Sudhir Mehta also thanked Nitin Welde, an Air Veteran and Consultant for Helicopters in Civil Aviation, for assisting him in returning to Pune.
Netizens React
The post garnered attention in no time, with social media users demanding such crises be addressed in a better manner.
“What we need is people to be held accountable for such a mess. Civic authority should be equipped/prepared and ready for all eventualities,” one user wrote.
“How will helipad solve the problem? How many can be evacuated from the lacs stranded on the highway?” wrote another user.
A third joined, “I got stuck for 12 hours and was very furious. This isn’t the first time such an incident happened on this expressway. There has to be a way to do better.”
