Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday asked police to find out the reason for the frequent traffic snarls on Vidyasagar Setu and come up with a solution.

“Second Hooghly Bridge-e (Vidyasagar Setu) ghontar por ghonta lokey dnariye thaakey (commuters are stranded on the Second Hooghly Bridge for hours). Can’t anything be done to address this? I have said this several times earlier. I’m telling it even now,” Mamata said while speaking at a review meeting at Nabanna, which was attended by ministers and senior officers.

“There are no cops on traffic duty at night resulting in congestion. Even trucks move through the bridge. Can’t Kolkata Police, Bengal police, Howrah and Bidhannagar commissionerates find a solution after discussing the issue among themselves?” Mamata said.

Among the senior police officers at the meeting were Rajeev Kumar, the state’s director general of police; Jawed Shamim, the additional director general of police responsible for law and order; Manoj Verma, the commissioner of Kolkata Police; and the chiefs of the Howrah and Bidhannagar commissionerates.

“Second Hooghly Bridge-ey kono incident holey je kono din boro ghotona ghotey jaabey (If an incident occurs on the Second Hooghly Bridge, it might get big). I’m telling you,” Mamata said. “Please take care. Find out five or six (alternative) routes."

Vidyasagar Setu has been undergoing extensive repairs, including overhauling the overhead cables, some of which will be replaced with new ones imported from Germany, and strengthening the bridge by replacing old expansion joints.

Senior engineers of the Hooghly River Bridge Commissioners, the custodian of the country’s longest cable-stayed bridge with 152 cables, said the work requires precision and a traffic block is often required to execute the plans.

“No repair work is going on now. We may resume it soon,” said a senior HRBC official.

Police officers overseeing traffic flow on the bridge said one of the six lanes (Vidyasagar Setu has three lanes on each flank) has been blocked to accommodate repair materials.

Of the remaining five, three lanes are usually reserved for vehicles bound for Calcutta and two for those moving towards Howrah.

“Trucks move through the bridge between 10pm and 6am. Since night traffic is usually heavy on the city-bound flank, three lanes have been left to accommodate the vehicles,” said a senior police officer.

“Two lanes on the other flank are designated for Howrah-bound vehicles. But this arrangement is changed as and when required to ensure traffic is not held up on the bridge.”

Officers said trucks often develop snags on the ramps when they are low on fuel and the police have to arrange for fuel to get the vehicles moving.

“A snag can have a ripple effect and slow down traffic significantly. Some of the trucks leaving the Calcutta port at night are diverted through other routes at times to reach parts of North and South 24-Parganas,” an officer said.

“Diverting trucks towards BT Road can slow night traffic on Central Avenue. Several points need to be factored in to find a solution to the congestion on Vidyasagar Setu.”