On the evening of 30th November, lives of hundred of Amdavadis was thrown out of gear as the worst ever traffic snarl engripped the SG Highway, stagnating movement for hours.
The 5 km long stretch, with Sanathal Circle as the starting point, witnessed more than 5,000 cars coming to a complete halt. The haywire situation at the SG Highway could get back on track only after the police officials, from around six police stations, were despatched to the location. It took around three horrendous hours for the cops to take control over the situation.
The problem sparked at around 5.30 pm when a trailer-truck, carrying two humongous shipping containers, suddenly broke down near the Sanathal overbridge hindering the flow of traffic on one side of the road. The blockage left thousands of cars stranded, after which cars heading towards Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar from Sanathal and vice-versa got entangled in the mess for more than three hours. A breather finally came their way at 8.30 pm when the traffic witnessed slight movement, as the trailer was taken away. Police officials stated that they have taken the driver into custody and confiscated the truck to check the verifiability of the documents.
"It was massive jam. As it was not possible to tow the huge trailer, we got it repaired and then traffic started moving again," said Rajiv Ranjan Bhagat, Superintendent of Police, Ahmedabad, Rural.
"I was going towards Vejalpur from Gandhinagar but got stuck in a traffic jam near Prahladnagar at 6.30 pm. While evening are a busy time for SG Highway but I have never seen such a long queue of cars due to traffic jam on the road. For more than two hours my car was stuck at a place and at around 8.30 the traffic started moving slowly," said a senior state government official who was a part of the jam.
Thus, the system especially highway authorities must make efforts to avert any such untoward situation as the common man is the one who suffers in the end.
