One of the tilted trucks soon after being lifted by the crane in Falakata on Sunday. (Anirban Choudhury)

Alipurduar, Sept. 26: Traffic on the bumpy NH31 was disrupted for over nine hours today when two trucks tilted while trying to negotiate large potholes in Falakata.

National and state highways in north Bengal, especially in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts, have been in a state of disrepair for months despite tall promises by ministers and politicians.

According to police, a truck tried to negotiate a deep pothole and got tilted on its side at Dulal Dokan More around 3am. There was sufficient space for other vehicles to pass the spot, but within 15 minutes, another truck fell on its side, blocking the highway completely. Traffic on the highway between Cooch Behar and Siliguri via Falakata was badly affected. More than 500 vehicles, including 20-25 state government buses, were left stranded on the road.

Falakata is 36km from here.

The distance between Cooch Behar and Siliguri through NH31 is 115km. Although there is a state highway connecting the two places via Mainaguri, the road is hardly used by heavy vehicles like trucks and buses as it is 170km-long.

The Falakata police pressed into service a crane around 10am to remove the tilted trucks and the road was cleared for traffic at noon.

Shantanu Sarkar, a trader from Siliguri, was on a bus that was stuck in the traffic jam. “I have an important work in Cooch Behar and I will reach there more than three hours late. I won’t be able to return to Siliguri by the evening. I am fed up with ministers like Kshiti Goswami, and politicians like Manas Bhuniya, who promised a lot on the repair of the roads when they visited here. But nothing has been done,” he said.

Paritosh Das, the secretary of the Alipurduar Byabsayee Samity, said business was being affected as trucks were reluctant to ply on the dilapidated roads.

“Even if the truck owners agree to come, they are charging double the normal fare, forcing us to raise the prices of the merchandise we sell. The entire Dooars economy is suffering as NH31, NH31D and NH31C are in bad shape. The state ministers, the public works department and the National Highways Authority of India keep passing the buck while we suffer,” he said.