India, Dec. 26 -- Severe traffic congestion on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway since Thursday morning has left thousands of motorists stranded, with vehicles crawling, particularly on lanes heading towards Pune. The festive rush ahead of Christmas and New Year, combined with weekend travel, has resulted in kilometre-long queues, causing major inconvenience to commuters and tourists alike.

With schools and offices closed, many families and groups from Mumbai and Pune have embarked on short holiday trips to nearby tourist destinations. The surge in traffic has also affected the old Pune-Mumbai highway, as well as the Mumbai-Goa and Mumbai-Nashik highways, while popular tourist hubs have seen a sharp rise in footfall, adding pressure on road inf...