Bhubaneswar: The ongoing Magha Saptami Mela has created traffic chaos at the busy Khandagiri Square, forcing many commuters to take other routes or keep waiting.

While it took between five and 10 minutes to cross the intersection, the huge volume of traffic because of the fair, which began on Thursday, has forced commuters to wait for more than 20 minutes to move on.

Commuters were stranded for over an hour last Monday when the BJD took out a rally to celebrate Naveen Patnaik's Ideal Chief Minister honour by a university in Pune. The rally, coupled with fair preparations, compounded the misery of commuters.

"The intersection has become a nightmare for us and most us are forced to take alternative routes. Indiscriminate parking along with the temporary shops for the fair have worsened the situation," said Nilesh Jena, a commuter.

Police said while more than 50,000 vehicles crossed the intersection an hour during rush hours, the number has doubled because of the fair. Besides, the construction of a proposed flyover by the National Highways Authority of India is yet to take off. The 1.5km four-lane flyover will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 115 crore.

Khandagiri Square has also been identified among black spots (accident-prone areas) in Khurda district. A survey by the regional transport office, Bhubaneswar I, has also concluded that the intersection was a death trap due to the absence of road signage, barricades between the national highway and service roads and encroachment of the service roads.

"Several fatal accidents have occurred here. The area has witnessed serious traffic congestions, but the authorities are yet to come up with an alternative plan," said local resident Bijay Moharana.

Assistant commissioner of police (traffic) Jatindra Kumar Panda said their men were working to ease the chaos. "A platoon of police personnel, with 10 traffic personnel and four officers of the traffic wing, are managing the traffic," said Panda.