India, Feb. 6 -- Pune district collector Jitendra Dudi on Thursday acknowledged that the administration was unable to handle the situation effectively after a gas tanker overturned in the Khandala ghat section, leading to prolonged hardship for commuters. He said the incident would be treated as a case study to frame standard operating procedures (SOPs) for handling similar emergencies in the future.

Following the accident, vehicles remained stranded near the site for several hours, leaving passengers without access to food, drinking water or toilet facilities.

Calling it an "exceptional accident", Dudi said the tanker was carrying highly inflammable propylene gas, which severely limited the administration's ability to respond in a rout...