UNNECESSARY JAM IN 3RD MAHANANDA BRIDGE

By Pradiptamay Saha (TNI Siliguri) ~ Edited By Ishita Das (TNI Siliguri)

Webdesk, TNI Siliguri, 26th July, 2015: A huge traffic jam stopped the traffic on 3rd Mahananda Bridge for around one and a half an hour on yesterday at around 02:00 PM. And that too just because of the repair work being done on 4-5 meters of road. Traffic jam is nothing new in Siliguri. Too many discussions have been done, several action plans and steps have been taken so far. However, the solution is still away. To avoid this traffic jam, Siligurians are having very few alternatives. One of them is the Noukaghat-Kaoakhali-Medical More-Shivmandir route. To avoid the jam of Air-View More, Siliguri Junction, Darjeeling More a huge traffic commute through this road to go to Shivmandir and Bagdogra. Apart from that North Bengal Medical College and Hospital is also accessed through this road. 3rd Mahananda Bridge plays a crucial role here. However, collecting toll tax creates a frequent problem. No proper tax collection facility is there. So, every time there is a jam when they stop a vehicle to collect toll. However, what happened on Saturday was totally a mess. It took this correspondent more than 30 minutes to cross the bridge which generally takes around 1 minute. 2 school buses, 3 ambulances were stuck in the jam. More than 150 bikes, 30 cars, several goods carriage vehicles were also stuck. Moreover, it was scorching heat outside. Patients, kids were exhausted and the whole nuisance happened because of repair work being done in few meters of bridge. Hardly 4-5 meters of the road of the bridge was filled with pitches and that lead to the jam. CRPF and local police reached the place to clear the jam. The repair work is a good and important initiative but any good initiative without proper planning can lead to a disaster like this.

Photo: Pradiptamay Saha (TNI)