Thousands of travellers braved the biting cold through the night as they found themselves stranded virtually in the middle of nowhere due to the massive snarl.

In July, three landslides had brought the highway traffic to a total standstill for 48 hours. Three months later on October 14, the highway witnessed another snarl that lasted 12 hour after a series of landslides.

Pune rural police said the bus was heading towards Mumbai when it ran into a jeep opposite Ambar Dhaba near Karla around 9 pm on Monday.

Both the vehicles were badly damaged due to the impact of the dash. Both lanes of the highway were blocked as the mangled vehicles lay in the middle of the road.

The highway, right from Nigdi to Khandala - a distance of 30 km - is already a motorists' nightmare. Hovering between 25 to 30 metre width, it is dotted with an array of potholes, on the entire length the dividers are missing and electricity poles are right on the edge of the road. The problem here is compounded by the fact that if a vehicle breaks down, it cannot be removed from the site as there is no open space as the road has slopes on both sides for long distance.

On Monday night, when the accident occurred a large number goods-laden trucks were parked along the stretch of highway. Chaos ensued as the motorists tried to inch ahead while taking advantage of the absence of policemen to control the traffic.

The stranded vehicles had already queued up in four lines on the highway by the time the policemen could reach there from Lonavala and the State Traffic Police post at Wadgaon Maval.

Shifting the mishap-hit vehicles was delayed as the police vehicles found it difficult to reach the accident spot through the maze of stranded vehicles.

The rural police summoned reinforcements from Lonavla, Talegaon Dabhade and Dehu Road to bring the situation under control. The State highway traffic police also brought in reinforcements from Pune and Wadgaon Maval. However, the queue of stranded vehicles had already reached Dehu Road on Pune side.

The queue had reached near Nigdi on Pune side and near Khopoli on Mumbai side by the time the police succeeded in towing away the heavily damaged vehicles with the help of a crane, officials said.

The stranded vehicles were moving at a snail's pace due to the congestion even after the bus and the jeep were towed away. The backlog of the stranded vehicles could not be cleared till late Tuesday evening.

Several vehicles plying on the highway were diverted via Ane Malshej Ghat after midnight. The alternate route also witnessed a major congestion due to the large number of vehicles.

All the ST buses, which left Pune and Mumbai after evening got stuck in melee. As a consequences, Pune-Mumbai-Pune trips of several luxury and ordinary buses of the MSRTC were cancelled. Not a single bus left Pune for Mumbai.

Bitter jam for Mayor too
Pimpri-Chinchwad Mayor Madhukar Pawale was among the scores of travellers stranded in the traffic snarl. He was returning home after attending a meeting convened by Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh in Mumbai.

Pawale, who was forced to spend the entire night in his car, reached Pune ten hours after he left Mumbai. Of course he could not do anything other than taking rest on Tuesday!

Thousands of the followers of Nanasaheb Dharmadhikari, the noted discourser, were also stuck in the traffic jam.