Traffic disrupted at Kasara ghat as gas tanker turns turtle, none hurt

NASHIK

: A gas tanker overturned at

Kasara Ghat

on Monday morning disrupting the movement of vehicular traffic on the highway for hours.

Due to this, the traffic on the highway from Mumbai to Nashik was diverted on the adjacent new Kasara Ghat Road and the diversion continued till late evening as the cranes for lifting the tanker had not arrived.

The Kasara police said the gas tanker overturned near the Satyamev Jayate turning point of the ghat when the driver of the container failed to control the vehicle in order to avoid hitting another vehicle in front of him.

Soon after getting the information, the police and officials of the toll plaza and safety officials of the

petroleum

company rushed to the spot fearing gas leakage.

Inspector Dattu Bhoye of Kasara police station said though gas leakage was not observed at the scene, as part of precautionary measure, fire tenders were summoned to the spot.

Meanwhile, in order to avoid any eventuality, the police diverted the traffic from the Mumbai-Nashik side on the adjacent new Kasara Ghat road that saw two-way traffic till late Monday evening.

“The tanker was loaded and it would need at least two cranes to put it back on the wheels. The cranes have been called from Shahapur in Thane. However, they had not arrived till Monday evening,” a police officer said.

“We have been continuously telling the toll companies to keep to keep a crane ready for heavy vehicles in case of any accidents. However, they have been neglecting the instructions. When the highway had busy traffic of heavy vehicles, the toll company was equipped with a small crane to lift vehicles like cars and every time in the event of an accident involving heavy vehicles the police had to keep waiting for the crane,” he added.

The driver of the tanker did not suffer any injuries in the accident as the tanker was already moving slowly up the ghat section and a sudden maneuvering on part of the driver to negotiate a small vehicle in front of it led to the overturning of the vehicle.