Traffic chaos at the flyover in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 2: The busy road connecting Mausima Square and Sishu Bhavan has become a nightmare for commuters during peak hours.

Moving on the Mausima Square—Sishu Bhavan flyover has become very difficult during 9am to 12noon and 4pm to 8.30pm. Brawls over passage of vehicles have become frequent here. Senior traffic officials have admitted that commuters are calling up cops everyday to end the crisis there.

Vehicles from Kalpana Square, Vivekananda Marg and Rath Road converge at the Mausima Square to pass through the flyover. At the Sishu Bhavan end, there is traffic flow from Bhimatangi, Forest Park, Palaspalli, Airport, Fire Station–Ekamra Square Road, Capital Hospital and Bapuji Nagar. However, the flyover, built in the early 1990s over railway tracks, has been unable to meet the growing traffic flow.

Mrutyunjay Tripathy, who commutes daily from Unit-VI to Balianta and passes through the flyover, said: “With a flyover under construction at Rajmahal Square, one cannot take that route. So, the only route through Sishu Bhavan has become a stretch with a lot of stress for commuters.

“It takes more than 15 minutes to cross the 500-metre stretch of the flyover on a vehicle. An alternative arrangement should be made immediately.’’

A senior traffic police officer said: “The flyover was perhaps never planned with a vision to carry the traffic load for 30 or 40 years. The authorities should have planned it keeping in mind more traffic load for future.”