Traffic on the bridge of the Farakka Barrage — the only bridge that connects north Bengal and the Northeast to south Bengal, including Calcutta — came to a halt for over six hours since early Monday after a truck on way to Siliguri collided with a dumper from from the opposite end.

Sources said that the accident sparked off a massive traffic jam that stretched for around 7-8km on both ends of the Farakka bridge from 3am on Monday.

Traffic finally started moving around 9am .

“Hundreds of vehicles carrying goods and passengers had to wait for around six hours till police with help of the fire services cleared the stretch on the bridge of the Farakka barrage. Apparently, the accident took place as one of the vehicles collided head-on with another while trying to avoid a large pothole. Traffic became normal only after 9am,” said one of the police officers assigned to control the situation.

Trucks lined up as a result of the traffic hold-up caused by the collision.

Three persons, including both the drivers of the accident-hit vehicles, were seriously injured and were taken to Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital after their rescue by cops.

The police also had to involve officials from fire services and outsource technicians to clear the roads to remove the damaged vehicles so as to clear the bridge.

A large police team headed by Farakka’s sub-divisional police officer Asim Khan was immediately sent to speed up clearing the important connector.

“The police team reached the site soon after information of the accident reached us. It took some time but the road was clear within 9am,” said Bholanath Pandey, the superintendent of Jangipur police district in Murshidabad.

The 2,304-metre-long Farakka Barrage, which connects Murshidabad and Malda districts on both sides, has 103 lock-gates. It was commissioned in 1975 and set up with an objective to divert adequate quantities of Ganga water through its feeder canal.

The Farakka Setu or Farakka bridge is a four-lane bridge located 500 metres downstream of Farakka Barrage. The bridge is 5.46km long and 25 metres wide.

Sources said that the six-hour-long closure of the Farakka bridge after the accident also forced many vehicles to take a detour of around 80km through neighbouring Bihar’s Bhagalpur.