Bhubaneswar, July 25: Traffic on the NH-5 was paralysed today for more than two hours following an accident at the Phulnakhara Square.
The accident took place around 10am with the vehicle involved in blocking the road at the square. The ill-equipped national highway police tried hard to remove the vehicle, but without success. The congestion was cleared after two hours.
In another accident, a retired Orissa State Road Transport Corporation employee was killed at Palasuni in the afternoon. One Prashant Kumar Das, 51, was killed after a truck hit him from behind at Palasuni Square on the NH-5. Das, a resident of Jayadev Vihar, was going on his motorcycle. The Mancheswar police rushed him to hospital where he was declared dead. The police also seized the truck.
Around 10am, a heavy vehicle used for transporting small vehicles got stuck on the road dug up for expansion work, while trying to avoid a collision with another four-wheeler near Phulnakhara traffic square.
Soon the police from NH traffic at Phulnakhara rushed to the spot and tried to remove the blockade. As the incident occurred at peak hour, hundreds of vehicles got stuck on the road.
“I was coming to Bhubaneswar. Around one kilometre before Phulnakhara, our vehicle was stopped. There were several vehicles in front of us. I got late for my office near Power House Square,” said Nrusingh Rout, a state government employee.
“Though I was on my motorcycle going to my college in Patia area, I could not even move due to the traffic jam. Moreover, it even rained heavily. I missed my classes today,” said Sangram Keshari Mohanty, an engineering student.
Police sources said every month around four to five accidents occur at the square. A traffic personnel said that in the wake of frequent accidents, a separate traffic police station had also been set.
The police said they tried their best to remove the blockade. “As the vehicle was heavy, it took some time to remove the vehicle from the road. Though we had cranes, we lacked long chains to tie up the vehicle,” said an officer.
