Bhubaneswar/Cuttack, May 1: Police today failed to handle the rush of devotees, who had gathered to witness the journey of Lord Balabhadra's daru to Puri, resulting congestion on the NH-5 between Cuttack and Bhubaneswar for several hours.
Thousands of vehicles, including school buses, got stranded due to the traffic mess.
Besides, commuters also rued inadequacy of police deployment on the highway.
Sources said only two section of force were deployed to control the traffic on the highway till 10am. However, additional five platoons were deployed subsequently to clear the rush. The daru had arrived at Bhanpur in the Cuttack Sadar police limits around 3:30am in a grand procession from Biribati.
Dipal Kumar Bhattamishra, 37, had to face inconveniences in reaching his office in Cuttack due to the acute congestion on the NH-5 from Bhubaneswar. It took him almost three hours to cover a distance of 28km from Bhubaneswar to Cuttack. "I had left Bhubaneswar on a motorcycle around 7:45am and it took me over three hours to reach the Link Road due to the congestion," he said.
Several school buses were also seen stranded at frequent intervals on the busy road. "It was a harrowing experience with the mercury rising in the day. We don't have any option but to wait inside the bus for the road to be cleared," said Sarita, a student.
Though the police had restricted the entry of heavy vehicles to Bhubaneswar, a number of trucks were seen on the road further congesting the traffic.
"Due to the slow movement of vehicles from the Cuttack-side, there was a backlog of the vehicles particularly at Balikuda, Gopalpur and Link Road," said P.K. Dalai, assistant commissioner of police (traffic).
Dalai said that over 14 platoons of police had been deployed to ensure a free flow of traffic for the Sagadi yatra from Biribati to Gopalpur yesterday.
Commuters also apprehended such problem during transportation of the sacred wood of Lord Jagannath. "If the situation is so worse during journey of Lord Balabhadra's scared log, one can imagine the situation when Lord Jagannath's daru would be taken to Puri. The police should make elaborate arrangement to ensure free traffic on the highway," said Sangam Sahu, a commuter.
