Mishap leads to traffic snarls

Our Correspondent

Dera Bassi, March 22

Hundreds of commuters were caught in traffic snarls for over two hours after a tipper reportedly overturned after hitting a divider on the Ambala-Chandigarh highway near Bhankarpur here this afternoon.

The incident took place around 3.30 pm when the driver of a loaded tipper (bearing registration number PB-65-AD-6561), which was on its way towards Chandigarh, lost balance in order to save a man who came in front of the vehicle. Following this, the tipper veered towards the other side of the highway after hitting the divider. It later hit a truck loaded with gas cylinders that was coming from the Chandigarh side.

After the collision, both vehicles overturned and blocked the highway. The driver of the tipper sustained injuries and was referred to the GMCH-32, Chandigarh, for treatment.

As a result, both sides of the highway got choked with commuters stuck in traffic snarls. With the entire load of sand from the tipper being spilled onto the highway, commuters were stranded for nearly two hours.

Commuters and local residents, being aware of the link roads, were seen taking alternative routes passing through different villagers to reach their destinations and vehicles with red beacons atop and others were seen breaking the queues thus compounding the problem.

Following the accident, long queues were seen on both sides of the road.

Some passers-by who were caught in the traffic snarls informed the traffic police about the incident. Later, the police reached the spot.

Angrez Singh, Traffic In-Charge, Dera Bassi, said the traffic that was coming from the Chandigarh side was diverted via Bhankarpur village and those coming from the Ambala side were diverted via Mubarikpur village to reach their respective destinations.

The police arranged two cranes to remove both vehicles from the road. Traffic on the highway was restored to normal in the evening, said the traffic in-charge.