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Smart shower triggers massive traffic jam

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Sept 8 � Most of the arterial roads today faced massive traffic jam after a smart afternoon shower caused waterlogging in several parts of the city. Commuters had a harrowing time on the roads from around 3.30 pm to 6.30 pm as artificial flood brought the traffic to a standstill for several hours.

Though the floodwater receded from the arterial roads in two hours after the rainfall, vehicular traffic returned to its normal flow late in the evening.

The most affected areas included Ganeshguri, specially the areas surrounding the flyover, Zoo Tiniali and Zoo-Narengi Road, GS Road from Christian Basti to Paltan Bazar, GNB Road, Panbazar, and GNB Road and MRD Road at Chandmari.

The rainfall, which lasted for barely an hour, inundated the Chandmari area at the Chandmari Colony that led to a chaotic situation due to the traffic jam. City buses and other vehicles plying through the route waited for more than an hour for the water to recede, which brought the traffic to a standstill at RG Baruah Road and also at Ambari on the other side. The B Borooah Road also faced a huge traffic jam from the Ulubari flyover point.

Traffic police had a tough time controlling the situation with heavy rush of commuters on these routes in the afternoon hours worsening the situation.

�Artificial floods in Guwahati have become a permanent problem of the city and with every passing year, new areas are getting affected. While every incident of waterlogging is a miserable experience for the citizens, rains during the morning and evening hours are more devastating,� said a resident of the Ulubari area.

While many citizens struggled to cross the inundated roads, auto-rickshaws had a field day. �Most of the people were in a hurry to get back to their homes in the evening. Sensing the situation, auto-rickshaws charged fares as their own sweet will. I paid Rs 250 to come to Bhangagarh from Chandmari,� said Trishna Bora, a resident of the Bhangagarh area.

Rickshaws on the Chandmari-Bhangagarh route also charged triple the usual fare on the pretext of waterlogging at the Bharalu point on Rajgarh Road.

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