Vehicles stand bumper-to-bumper on Gandhi Setu in Patna on Thursday afternoon. Pictures by Jai Prakash

Patna, April 21: A small power protest followed by a short demonstration today created misery for commuters travelling on the Gandhi Setu.

What sparked off as a small demonstration at Zero Mile by 40 residents of the area raising slogans against the lack of water supply and the bleak power scenario turned into a road choke rally.

Effects of the protest, which started around 12 noon, were felt across the 5.575-km stretch of the bridge. Hundreds of motorists and commuters were left stranded. Even though the demonstration lasted 45 minutes to an hour, the jam continued till 2.30pm.

Two traffic constables were seen trying to frantically bring the situation under control, which at one point, looked like transforming into a major problem.

Commuters blamed the demonstrators and the road blockade as the primary reason for the traffic congestion.

“The bridge is always clogged owing to the one-way traffic spanning across at least 1km and the illegal parking of buses and autorickshaws anywhere on the bridge. Even after the people stopped their demonstration, things did not improve as the motorists wanted to be the first to move out of the situation. As a result, the traffic congestion continued for a long time,” said Harish Kumar, a bank executive travelling to Hajipur at the time.

Heavy vehicles like trucks and buses followed by autorickshaws wished to break out first.

Motorists blamed these trucks and autorickshaws for the situation.

The long queues started at the beginning of the bridge, as many did not want to get into the traffic and get the air instead.

People and drivers of various vehicles were seen getting out of the passenger buses and standing by the bridge gasping for fresh air.

“It becomes almost impossible to sit inside the bus during a traffic jam. The hot weather is a bit too much to handle. The women fall sick as a result. We do not know when the state government or even the Centre for that matter will take some concrete steps to ensure a solution to this problem,” an angry commuter said.

Even the traffic constables looked frustrated after a while. “Such situations are very difficult to control. Such situations have become so common these days,” said one as he stretched his hand out, asking a truck to stop.

People on two-wheelers had no way out but to mount their vehicles on the pedestrian path on the bridge sides and drive along them.

“If we do not do this, we will never reach our destinations. This happens everyday. There is some reason or the other. We know taking our vehicles in this manner is wrong, but what can we do? The constables also realise the same and hence, they do not say anything. The state government talks about good governance, but they cannot even manage traffic on a bridge. Calcutta has two huge bridges, but things are so smooth there,” Ashim Dhar, a medical representative said.

Earlier this month, road construction minister Nand Kishore Yadav had said that a control room, manned by a police inspector, two assistant sub-inspectors and four constables was set up on the bridge to control traffic snarls.

Apart from this, two magistrates were also deployed at both ends, while cranes have been kept ready, the minister had said.

Patna senior superintendent of police Alok Kumar had spoken about policemen on patrol on the bridge very frequently.

Commuters complained that none of these steps have really made a difference. They called for concrete steps.

“Nobody is concerned about our problems. We face this almost everyday. However, nobody seems to be bothered about all this,” a commuter told The Telegraph.