Alipurduar, July 31: Traffic between Assam and Siliguri was disrupted after a truck broke down on NH 31C early this morning.

The national highway connects Siliguri with Alipurduar, Kalchini and Jaigaon in north Bengal and Assam.

The coal-laden truck coming from Assam and heading towards Siliguri broke down near Hashimara in Alipurduar subdivision around 6am. As a result, communication between Jaigaon, on the Indo-Bhutan border, Alipurduar, Kalchini and Siliguri was completely disrupted.

Police from the Hashimara outpost only managed to push the truck to a corner of the road. Anindo Bhattacharjee, the officer-in-charge of the outpost, said: “The truck had tilted and blocked the entire width of the highway. The poor condition of the road and the non-availability of a crane meant we could clear the road only around 3pm. On both sides, nearly 700 vehicles were stranded.”

Office-goers and students had to face a harrowing time as they could not reach their workplace and schools on time.

The commuters also expressed their dismay over the poor road condition.

“The potholes are so big that very often vehicles break down and passengers suffer,” said one of them.