Truck breaks down near toll, sparks jams on NH-8

GURUGRAM: Commuters had a tough time driving through Kherki Daula toll plaza on Tuesday afternoon owing to hours-long jams that started around 2.30pm.
According to traffic police, a container truck coming from Manesar-side broke down on Narsinghpur service lane while going towards Southern Peripheral Road (SPR). To prevent any major bottleneck, the traffic cops had to shut down the U-turn just before the toll plaza, triggering massive snarls on both sides of the NH-8.

Though the cut in the middle of the NH-8 is essentially meant for vehicles going back towards Hero Honda Chowk, it is also used by trucks coming from Manesar to take a right turn just after crossing the toll for going to SPR.

Thus, with the U-turn closed, commuters, coming from the Hero Honda Chowk and wanting to go back, had to cross the toll and then look for another U-turn. Similarly, vehicles, coming from Manesar, had to move straight on NH-8 up to Hero Honda Chowk and then take a U-turn to go towards SPR.

Thus the closure of the U-turn caused more chaos and jams, causing tailbacks up to Khandsa village, around 3.5km from the toll.

The traffic police said the jams lasted for only an hour, but commuters claimed they had to struggle for more than two hours to cross the stretch.

Arvind Dahiya, SHO, traffic police, said, “A huge truck had broken down on the service lane. It took us some time to arrange a crane to remove the truck from the spot. But in an hour, we managed to shift the truck and open the U-turn again.”

Priya Sharan, a resident of Sector 80, said, “I was on my way home around 3pm, when the toll lanes were choked. I got a call from my daughter’s school that their bus would be late because of the jams.” Another commuter Neerja Verma, a resident of Sector 91, said, “The traffic was not moving in the afternoon. I was stuck at one spot for almost 15 minutes.”

Another commuter Rashmi Verma, who lives in Sector 37, said, “Traffic police should not allow trucks to use the Narsinghpur service lane as a shortcut to SPR.”

Later, the traffic police lifted the boom barriers at the toll plaza allowing vehicles to move freely from 2.45pm to 3.45pm. “The jams started to build up in the afternoon when heavy industrial trucks came into Gurugram. But the situation was under control after some time,” said T Raju, an MCEPL official.