The government has restricted vehicular traffic on the Hajipur-bound flank of Mahatma Gandhi Setu to one lane for damage to the road deck.

The bridge has been in a bad shape over the past two years. Two weeks ago, a 2.5m area near pillar number 46 was damaged, leaving commuters stranded for nearly an hour. The damaged portion was patched up in a day with a steel plate placed over the area and usual traffic movement resumed.

But in the past few days, new potholes have been noticed on the bridge's western flank, the Hajipur-bound lane.

"As the western flank is damaged in several places, we have decided to allow vehicles to use only one lane till the damaged portions are repaired," said superintendent of police (traffic) P.K. Das. "We are taking every measure to ensure smooth traffic over the bridge."

Restricted movement of vehicles and traffic snarls are nothing new for the 5.575km bridge and the latest restriction was put in place on Saturday night. Engineers claimed there was nothing alarming about the damage and steps are being taken to repair the potholes on the western flank.

"Potholes are very common on any bridge and there is nothing to worry about it," said Manoranjan Kumar Sinha, chief engineer (monitoring), road construction department. "It is being repaired fast so that commuters do not face any problem. A fixed time frame can't be provided for the work but work in under way and will be completed soon. Our engineers are keeping a close eye on the bridge. We should be happy the Centre has sanctioned funds for the rehabilitation of the Setu."

The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved rehabilitation of the Mahatma Gandhi Setu for an estimated Rs 1,742.01 crore. The plan stipulates that one side of the bridge will be completely demolished and steel framework will be erected. During the overhaul of the bridge later this year, vehicles would be allowed to move on only one side of the bridge.

Commuters are not pleased with the traffic restrictions. Not only is traffic moving at a very slow pace on the bridge, it is also tough for commuters to take the alternative route of Rajendra Bridge, around 100km east of Gandhi Setu.

"Day by day, taking the Mahatma Gandhi Setu is becoming a nightmare," said Rohit Kumar, who regularly visits Hajipur for work. "Everyday there is some problem or the other and we are ones to face problems on a daily basis. The politicians have nothing to do with our pain as they can fly in their helicopters. But what about us, how long will we continue to face this perennial problem?"

Before this restriction, a part of the bridge's western flank was being used to segregate lanes for passenger and commercial vehicles. Now, with a single lane, all vehicles will move in one line sparking traffic snarls if any vehicle breaks down on the bridge.

Another engineer in the road construction department said the reason behind damage to the bridge was overloaded trucks.

"Trucks with maximum 15 tonnes load can pass over the bridge according to the rule, but several of them take the bridge with over 50 tonnes of load," the engineer said. "That makes the bridge vulnerable, and we cannot do anything from our side. It is the system that has to be blamed."