The accident, which occured just a few feet away from the Harris bridge at Dapodi, caused long traffic snarls till late in the evening when the carcasses where finally shifted by the PMC staff.

According to the Khadki police inspector S M Jamdade, his staff first contacted Khadki cantonment office but they conveyed their inability to provide the hearse van. ``The PMC staff however agreed to send their van to eject the dead animals but by late afternoon they informed us that their vehicle had developed a snag,'' PI Jamdade said adding that ``it was only around 6.30 the road was cleared of the bodies when the PMC staff finally landed armed with a hearse van.''

Jamdade said he could have the removed the bodies from the road with the help of a crane but sensing public disapproval hestitated to do so.

According to traffic constable Shashikant Kharat, who was on duty at Bopodi chowk, one of the buffaloes was alive for quite sometime. He added that the traffic became unmanageable in the late afternoon.

The Pune-Mumbai Highway stretch turns into a nightmare for motorists between Khadki and Dapodi as the width of road has narrowed over the years.