Traffic chaos at Mangalabag in Cuttack. Pictures by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, May 9: Mission Road resident Quadir Khan would have to wait for another 15 days for smooth travel through Mangalabag.

Traffic management at this busy junction has gone haywire due to the ongoing construction for an integrated sanitation project taken up by the Japan International Co-operation Agency, and official sources said the micro-tunnel job for the underground sewerage system would take another 15 days to get over.

“It is now almost five days that the traffic has been badly disrupted at Mangalabag due to the construction. There is hardly any space for commuters to switch ends at the crossing,” said Khan.

Like Khan, many other commuters, who use this particular stretch everyday, appear dissatisfied with the construction activity as this is leading to traffic congestion at the junction. Moreover, a temporary roundabout has been created to facilitate construction of the micro-tunnelling channel, which has added to the commuters’ woes.

Though traffic officials claimed that they had not yet received any complaint regarding the congestion, an official said steps would be taken shortly to resolve the minor issues to streamline traffic at Mangalabag.

“We have given permission to the agency for the construction of single micro-tunnel in the first phase keeping in view the traffic hazards. We will shortly conduct a review if there is any kind of obstruction to the vehicular traffic and take appropriate steps to streamline it,” said assistant commissioner of police (traffic) Rajendra Kumar Rout.

Last month, officials had diverted traffic due to a similar construction at SCB Medical Road. But, no such measure has been taken at Mangalabag. Though the traffic officials have created a small opening by removing the road barrier to facilitate easy cross over, it has failed to resolve congestion at the crossing.

“Being a vital junction, there have been problems in diverting vehicular traffic here. However, we have deployed adequate manpower to assist traffic officials to ensure that there is no obstruction in the traffic flow,” said a senior agency official.

An official of the Japanese agency said three marshals had been deployed to regulate vehicular traffic at Mangalabag. Similarly, steps are also being taken to speed up the construction on the main road.

As hundreds of commuters depend on the vital crossing to move towards Ranihat, College Square, Thoria Sahi and SCB Medical College and Hospital from the Cantonment Road side, there is an urgent demand to divert four wheelers from the Matamatha side to ease off the congestion at Mangalabag Square.

“Not only the crossing at Mangalabag, but also the stretch from Matamatha to College Square lies choked due to construction and desiltation along SCB Medical Road,” said Sanjay Mohanty, a commuter.