A dilapidated bridge across the Ganga in Patna, the Mahatma Gandhi Setu, needs a senior IPS officer, 300 policemen equipped with wireless sets, a separate police station, one crane and scores of CCTV cameras to clear the perennial traffic jams on it. At least, the Bihar government believes so.
Recently, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar held a high-level meeting of officials to chalk out a strategy to tackle the recurrent traffic snarls on the bridge. Later, he asked the Chief Secretary and the Director-General of Police to constitute a “dedicated team” led by an IG [Inspector-General of Police] rank-officer for the task.
“Following the Chief Minister’s instruction, a special team is being formed,” said Anjani Kumar Singh, the State Chief Secretary.
It is learnt that the government has decided to form a contingent of over 300 policemen with wireless sets to monitor the traffic round the clock on the 5.575-km bridge. A separate traffic police station will also be set up at the northern end of the bridge. Scores of CCTV cameras will be installed to screen the movement of about 75,000 vehicles that cross the bridge daily.
Besides, a crane would be stationed permanently on the bridge. The bridge would be divided into three parts by the monitoring policemen for the smooth movement of vehicles.
“I’ve also instructed the officials to explore the option of constructing two pontoon bridges [makeshift boat bridge] flanking the Mahatma Gandhi Setu which can be used by small vehicles,” said the Chief Minister.
Dilapidated state
Inaugurated by the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, in May 1982, the Mahatma Gandhi Setu (also called Ganga Setu) is the lifeline connecting north and south Bihar. However, its dilapidated condition today has earned it the epithet the “hanging bridge of Bihar.”
With incomplete maintenance work going on for several years, the two-lane bridge becomes just one lane at some points. Passing vehicles set of violent vibrations.
Earlier, the State government had made several plans deploying senior policemen for the smooth movement of traffic but they were active only during VIP movement. Traffic jams on the Ganga Setu stretch not just for hours but for days.
“If we cross Ganga Setu without getting caught in a traffic jam, we feel blessed and lucky. We shiver and start praying every time we cross,” Dr. Atul Verma and his wife Dr. Jaishree Shekhar told The Hindu .
The doctor-couple have their clinic in Hajipur across the bridge and use the bridge it twice a day.
To the wedding, on time
During the wedding season, a group of bikers can be seen stationed at both ends of the bridge who ferry bridegrooms caught in the traffic jam. They call themselves “bridge bikers for the marriage season.”
“We take the bridegroom and a few of his relatives on our bikes through the traffic snarl on the bridge for Rs. 700-800 so that they won’t miss the auspicious time,” Pappu Kumar, a biker from Hajipur, told The Hindu . Every marriage season, we earn a decent amount through this, he added.
Patients often die in ambulances trapped in long jams on the Ganga Setu. “The nightmare continues despite government assurances,” rued Manoranjan Prasad, whose wife died recently on her way to a hospital in Patna from Hajipur.
