Police patrol Gandhi Setu to ensure smooth traffic movement on Monday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, April 25: A day after chief minister Nitish Kumar ordered officials to ensure smooth traffic flow on the 5.575-km-long Mahatma Gandhi Setu, a drive along the lifeline between north and south Bihar today turned out to be a pleasant experience.

Twenty stick-wielding constables closely monitored the traffic movement on the bridge. With special emphasis on the heavy vehicles, especially near the one-way traffic stretch, the police presence came as a pleasant surprise to the many commuters.

“It is a surprise. I travel across the bridge every day. Till three days back, only two traffic cops could be seen at the bridge entrance. But today I was surprised to see policemen every 300m to 400m. I am fortunate that there is no jam today,” Manoj Rai, a resident of Hajipur, said.

The men in uniform guarded the bridge right from the entrance from the Patna side till the end of the one-way traffic stretch.

“The approach road to the bridge is narrow and the traffic jam starts from there. Policemen have been deployed along the road to ensure heavy vehicles plied in one lane,” said an officer.

Some buses were seen stopping on bridge to pick up passengers. But the police said the malpractice would be stopped tomorrow. “No vehicle will be allowed to stop on the bridge,” the police officer said.

Besides the police, the road construction department has come out with an elaborate plan to ease the congestion on the bridge.

“We will reduce the number of cut points from the existing 12 to four,” road construction department secretary Pratyaya Amrit told The Telegraph.

Cut points are the gaps between the road dividers through which vehicles can change lanes.

“It will be easier to keep tabs on rule violators with the reduced number of cut points, as police personnel would be deputed at all the four cut points,” the road construction department secretary said.

The department has also decided to press into service two more cranes to two away vehicles stopping on the bridge because of snags.

Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam, which has been given the task of toll collection, has been directed to set up four more counters to ease traffic congestion at the entry point of the bridge on the Hajipur side.

Six toll collection counters are functioning at the Hajipur end of the bridge at present.