Residents of Jalpaiguri town and those in its suburbs faced acute traffic congestion and in around the town from Thursday to Friday as traffic has virtually come to a standstill on the stretch of NH27 that skirts the town.

On NH27, part of the four-lane expressway planned almost two decades back, there are a number of stretches where the road is yet to be widened and work is still in progress.

According to officers of the traffic police wing in Jalpaiguri, construction work is in progress in different stretches, including the stretch that passes through the outskirts of Jalpaiguri. In addition, the condition of the existing road is already bad, and deteriorated because of incessant downpour. Trucks and other heavy vehicles often break down, causing the congestion.

“From Thursday night to Friday afternoon, at least 14 trucks have broken down. It takes time to get mechanics or recovery vans, further adding to the congestion. The stretch between Raninagar and Teesta Bridge (two ends of the town) is dotted with craters and vehicles get stranded on a regular basis. Hundreds of vehicles are queued up since Thursday night along this stretch and it is tough to say when vehicular movement will get normal on this route,” said a police officer.

Mohammad Tahir, a truck driver heading to Uttar Pradesh from Assam, said it took him six hours to cross 6km. “I drove my truck at a snail’s pace and that too occasionally. Most of the time since Thursday afternoon, I sat in the cabin, switching off the engines,” he said.

Thousands of people from the suburbs who go to and fro Jalpaiguri on jobs faced problems.

“The NHAI authorities should expedite construction work. This traffic congestion has become a major problem for us,” said a bank employee.

Sanjeev Sharma, a project director of NHAI posted in Siliguri, said work was on in full swing.

“We expect to finish the work in this stretch by December this year. Due to rainfall, some diversions are damaged. We have engaged workers to carry out repairs,” he said.

In Jalpaiguri town, some residents have started avoiding two bridges over the Karala river that divides the town from Friday morning.

This came as a result of a rumour that spread across the town that the pillars of both the bridges were damaged.

This increased the vehicular pressure on two other bridges over the river, as most residents took detours.

Later in the day, policemen and officers from state PWD inspected both the bridges and scotched the rumours.

“Nothing has happened. After the monsoons, the bridge that connects the Collectorate Avenue will be repaired,” said an official.