Shillong, March 17: The traffic snarl in Shillong affected many students who were writing their examinations today prompting UDP legislator Ardent Basaiawmoit to bring the matter to the notice of the Meghalaya government during the Assembly session.

Moving a zero hour notice, Basaiawmoit said many students were affected because of the traffic snarl in and around the city and asked the government to conduct re-examination of today’s paper.

Concerned over the matter, education minister Ampareen Lyngdoh, after meeting the education officials on the Assembly premises, called up the school authorities to allot extra time to the affected students.

She said she had received reports of two affected educational institutions, Auxilium School at Nongthymmai and Smit Higher Secondary School, on the outskirts of the city.

While additional 10 minutes were allotted to the students in Auxilium School, 40 minutes were allotted to the examinees in Smit as the manager of the bank, where the question papers were kept, arrived 40 minutes late because of the traffic.

Earlier, raising the issue in the Assembly, Basaiawmoit said he could not reach the Assembly on time because of the traffic problem.

“The worst affected are the students,” he said.

The legislator said he had reminded the government in the past by writing two letters to ensure free flow of traffic during the examinations.

Basaiawmoit said he also had taken up the matter with the police officials concerned from 6.30am today to ensure that the traffic snarl did not hamper the movement of the students from their home to the examination centres.

Chief minister Mukul Sangma said the plying of the trucks was restricted till 11am to have better traffic flow in the view of the examinations.

“This morning, however, I found that the trucks were plying even during morning hours. The government will seek a detailed report on why they were allowed to ply violating the restriction,” Sangma said.

According to the chief minister, one of the reasons might be that the truckers were carrying out frequent trips as the load limit was restricted to 9 metric tonnes per truck, compared to the past when the vehicles were carrying more load.

“This matter also needs further investigation and we will have to discuss it to find a solution,” Sangma said.

To a question by Basaiawmoit, the chief minister said the affected students would be allowed additional time by the school authorities.

He said the issue of conducting re-examination would be discussed at a high-level meeting, after getting reports from various schools.