The stranded passengers are forced to wait hours in the jam just to cross the 10 Kilometer road section after the road department started maintenance work without working out proper alternatives to manage the traffic along the busy route. [break]
A long file of the vehicles has become a common scene along the Naubise-Nagdhunga section for the last one and a half month.
The distance which could have traversed in 20 minutes now takes over 5 hours. The passengers worn out from the long distance travel to reach the capital are tormented waiting for the jam to clear. Similarly, the commuters leaving the capital cannot reach to their destination on time.
"I have already spent 4 hours in the jam from Thankot to Jhaprekhola. I don´t know how long will it still take to pass through this bottle neck to reach Naubise," said Babin Baral , of Dhadhing.
Similarly, Rabi Shah, started from Kalanki at 1 PM on his car for Birganj. It was already 4 PM by the time his car reached Thankot. “I could not reach my destination on time as I was struck in the jam, and it took me more three hours just to pass a 20 minutes distance," said Shah.
Ramchandra Neupane, a passenger in a bus struck in the jam, said that he could neither step out of the bus for refreshment nor could he walk to Kathmandu on his own. Around 2,000 vehicles waiting to enter the capital had made a 5 kilometer serpentine queue along the road section.
However the vendors selling dry food and other items inside the stranded vehicle are a happy lot. "The greater the jam, the better our business," admitted one of the vendors.
According to a police inspector, Ananda Mani Lamichhane, the traffic congestion could have been reduced substantively had the road department planned the maintenance work properly-keeping the rush hours in mind.
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