Trucks caught in the traffic snarl on Mahatma Gandhi Setu in Patna on Friday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Oct. 14: Traffic moved at a snail’s pace on Mahatma Gandhi Setu today after two trucks hit two different lampposts on the bridge last night.

Sources said the two trucks hit the lampposts at a distance of 200m of each other. Both the trucks had blocked portions of the stretch from Patna to Hajipur. As a result, traffic was forced to pass through narrow spaces on the stretch.

A deputy superintendent of police-rank officer posted on the bridge said: “The accidents occurred last night. Both the drivers received minor injuries. They have been taken into custody.”

Commuters who had to cross the bridge today faced severe traffic snarl. It took them around two to three hours to cross the 5.575-km-long bridge. Stuck on the bridge, they were obviously angry.

Sukhdev Ram, a commuter heading towards Hajipur, said: “I have been stuck in this snarl for more than two hours. I started from Patna at 11am. It’s past 2pm now and I have not crossed even half the distance on the bridge. This is frustrating.”

He added: “It seems I will reach Hajipur tomorrow morning if the condition does not improve. There is no other way to go to Hajipur, except this bridge. So, I am stuck here. I don’t understand what the cops are doing on the bridge. They are good for nothing.”

The cops, however, claimed that they were trying their best to facilitate the smooth movement of traffic. But as thousands of vehicles passed through the bridge, they, too, were helpless.

A policeman said: “We are allowing vehicles headed in the two opposite directions to pass alternatively. This has been going on for quite sometime.”

The chaos on the bridge was not helped by the fact that a 500m stretch has already been blocked for repair, and traffic headed towards both Patna and Hajipur is forced to travel on one lane.

Rajendra Singh, another commuter stuck on the bridge, said: “Boats should be made available when there is a traffic snarl. We are stuck helplessly. Neither can I go ahead, nor behind. I can’t move my car unless the snarl clears.”

He added: “I don’t understand what the administration is doing with the crane they have. They should have cleared the mess last night itself.”

Explaining why the crane could not be used immediately, a police officer said: “Though we have a crane it is not possible to remove the trucks now. To do so, we will have to stop the traffic movement for three to four hours. That would cause more problems for commuters.”