Vehicles stuck in a jam at Gandhi Setu in Patna on Sunday. Picture by Nagendra Kumar Singh

Patna, May 8: A minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet had a first hand experience of the traffic snarls on the Mahatma Gandhi Setu, which connects north Bihar to the state capital, this morning.

The minister’s trauma started soon after he crossed the railway crossing near Ramashish Chowk on the Muzaffarpur-Hajipur Road in Vaishali district.

The minister, who did not wish to be identified, said it took him more than four hours to reach Patna from Hajipur. “I was on way to Patna from my ancestral house in Madhubani district. Everything was fine till I reached Hajipur. But the vehicle got stuck in the traffic congestion as soon as it crossed the railway crossing near Ramashish Chowk at Hajipur,” he said. His bodyguards tried to clear the jam but in vain.

The minister was lucky to reach his destination, albeit four hours late. But Om Prakash Singh, a resident of Sultanpur village under Mohiuddin Nagar block in Samastipur district, was not so lucky. He missed the train for Delhi as he reached Patna Junction about two hours after the train, Shramjeevi Express, had left.

“Though I left my home around 5am, I arrived at the railway station late. The train had left by the time I reached there,” he said, adding that the autorickshaw he hired from Hajipur railway station for Patna Junction was caught in the traffic jam near Toll Tax Plaza, on the northern end of the 5.575-km long bridge over the Ganga.

On Friday night, the situation had come to such a pass that city superintendent of police S. Lande had to intervene. Sources said traffic on the bridge was restored only after the intervention of the officer. Lande monitored the movement of vehicles on the bridge from 12 midnight to 4.30am on Saturday, sources said.

But that was a temporary relief for commuters. A long queue of vehicles was seen on the bridge again in the morning. Sources said that when the city SP reached the bridge, no police or administrative official assigned to monitor traffic movement was present on duty. The police and administrative officials have been asked to work in shifts.

The traffic congestion on the bridge, also known as the lifeline of north Bihar, has become a perennial problem for the people of the region. The condition on the 12-km stretch between Fatuha and Zero Mile (Pahari pad) on National Highway 30 is worse. A long queue of vehicles can be seen every day.

“I am stuck in the traffic jam for the past five hours. I don’t know when I will reach Lakhisarai where I have to attend a wedding,” said Raman Kumar, a resident of Barbigha in Lakhisarai. The situation on NH-30 has deteriorated to such an extent that people now prefer to travel by train.

The deployment of policemen on the bridge, however, has proved a boon in disguise for some cops.

Two sub-inspectors and three constables were suspended by Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Alok Kumar on May 5 after they were caught red-handed while extorting money from truck drivers late in the night.

The policemen were found extorting money from the truckers when a team of officials attached with the district control room reached there after getting information about a snarl. The officer immediately informed the SSP, who, in turn, placed all policemen deputed on the bridge under suspension.

“There seems to be no end to the problem. The situation has not improved even after the instructions of chief minister Nitish Kumar,” said Chandra Bhushan Mishra, an automobile dealer of Hajipur who has to face the problem almost every day.

Concerned over the problem, the state police headquarters has decided to provide additional security forces to Patna, Vaishali and Muzaffarpur districts.

Director-general of police Neel Mani said officials deployed on the bridge have been directed to impose fines on vehicles found to be violating traffic rules.