The chaos began when an excavator-mounted drilling crane collapsed onto the heavily trafficked Sion-Panvel route in the Mankhurd area. The sudden obstruction brought traffic to a complete standstill, affecting key stretches across Mankhurd, Chembur, and adjoining areas. The congestion extended well into the following day, creating a ripple effect across the city’s eastern corridor.
Actress Sonali Kulkarni, known for her role in “Dil Chahta Hai,” was among those trapped in the gridlock while traveling to Pune. Stranded on the Mankhurd Bridge, she documented her ordeal in a video that quickly went viral on social media. The footage showed endless rows of stationary vehicles, including cars, buses, and heavy trucks, immobilised in all directions.
Describing the situation, Kulkarni said she had been stuck for five hours without any movement and with no possibility of turning back. She stated that despite contacting traffic control authorities, she received no clear timeline for the resolution, only being advised to remain patient as officials themselves were uncertain about when the congestion would ease.
With no access to basic amenities and no visible relief measures on site, Kulkarni made a public appeal for intervention. She urged authorities to approach from the opposite side of the highway to provide updates or assistance, expressing concern over the prolonged uncertainty and the distress faced by commuters.
Amid the prolonged disruption, tragedy struck when Police Constable Santosh Gopal Chavan, who had served for 23 years and was attached to the Nehru Nagar Police Station, was critically injured. He was returning to Panvel on his motorcycle after completing night duty at the Eastern Region Control Room when he became caught in the traffic. He later succumbed to his injuries.
The incident has highlighted the vulnerability of Mumbai’s critical transport routes to sudden infrastructure failures and the cascading impact such disruptions can have on public safety and emergency response. The prolonged gridlock, combined with the loss of life, underscores the urgent need for robust contingency planning and rapid-response mechanisms on the city’s busiest corridors.
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