Breathe easy: A snarl-free stretch of National Highway 30 on Wednesday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, May 11: Commuters on National Highway (NH) 30 and New Bypass finally breathed easy today after the five-day-long snarl of stranded trucks cleared up.

Truckers, however, created a minor problem — not because they violated traffic rules but because many of them dozed off while waiting for their turn in the snarl.

“Most of them fell asleep in the night. So they were not budging even though there was enough space. We had to wake them up and direct them to move,” another traffic police officer said.

Conditions on New Bypass had started to ease since yesterday after the police stopped the movement of heavy vehicles coming towards Patna on the roads from places like Nawada and Biharsharif.

“The police, in co-ordination with the administration, had slowed down the movement of trucks coming from these places. The continuous flow of more trucks and other heavy vehicles had increased the queue. But the vehicles were cleared smoothly. The snarl eased as more vehicles were cleared,” a deputy superintendent of police (DSP)-rank officer told The Telegraph.

Patna City superintendent of police (SP) Shivdeep Lande, who was given the additional charge of SP (traffic) yesterday, told The Telegraph that a dedicated team of policemen would be posted at Mahatma Gandhi Setu and New Bypass to regulate traffic.

Sources said the DSP deputed at the bridge to streamline traffic would be held responsible if he failed to clear the snarls.

Buses often stop at the mouth of and on the 5.575-km-long bridge to pick passengers. This, in turn, triggers traffic snarls.

“A major reason behind the jam on Gandhi Setu are the passenger buses that stop right at beginning of the bridge to pick waiting passengers. With the buses stopping whenever they want to, the trucks find it difficult to pass, as the road is narrow. This compounds the problem. Buses will not be allowed to stop anywhere on or near the bridge to pick passengers. The DSP deputed on the bridge would be responsible for ensuring this,” Lande told The Telegraph.

On May 7, the police headquarters had deputed three DSP-rank officers and 50 additional constables on the bridge, on the advice of chief minister Nitish Kumar, to streamline the worsening traffic problem on the bridge and along the highway.

Earlier too, 20 constables had been deputed on the bridge to maintain easy traffic flow and look out for errant vehicles. They were also supposed to prevent vehicles from overtaking.

Police officers said there would be surprise checks and inspections and the officers concerned could face suspension if the passenger buses were seen standing on and along the bridge.

“There are stairs by the side of the bridge that people climb and wait to catch buses. These have been blocked,” said the SP.