Vehicles stranded for over three hours in heavy traffic in this state

Various commuters faced heavy traffic jam and remained stranded for over three hours on the national highway connecting Panaji to South Goa on Monday due to a minor accident that took place on the bridge over Zuari river. Many stranded passengers missed their flight from the Dabolim airport, while those going to office faced inconvenience as they could not reach their workplace on time.

The accident involved a tempo and a SUV and occurred when the former dashed into the latter on Zuari bridge, around 15 kilometres from Panaji, causing major disruptions in the regular traffic flow, a senior police official told PTI. It took 45 minutes before the two vehicles were towed away by a special crane.

However, the congestion continued as vehicles kept queuing up on the national highway, the officer said. “We were heading to Panaji from Margao when we got stuck in the traffic jam for more than three hours. We chose to return home, as the congestion was heavy and there was no possibility of crossing the bridge," Kedar Mapexencar, a real estate professional, who was stranded in the traffic with his children, told PTI.

Another commuter, Avit Narvekar, who was travelling to the airport from Panaji, said that he missed his flight to Mumbai. “We left well before time, but could not reach the airport," he said.

In a separate development, Haridwar implemented a new traffic plan starting December 1. Every year, the region witnesses a huge crowd of devotees which results in traffic jams almost every day, causing trouble to local residents in their day-to-day commute within the city. The city's new traffic plan will be implemented in a phased manner with 16 routes earmarked for e-rickshaw vehicles in the first phase, in which a fixed number of e-rickshaws will be run.