A crowd of supporters in Ri Bhoi disrupted the busiest national highway in Nongpoh to witness their candidate pass the nomination scrutiny, to contest the upcoming Assembly elections.
Revelry on the road had brought angst to commuters as some had to travel to Guwahati to catch their flights.
A traveller complained that he missed his flight because of the traffic jam in Nongpoh, as it lasted for four hours.
An ambulance was also seen stuck in the jam.
A similar sight was in East Jaiñtia Hills as the national highway passing through Khliehriat was jam packed with supporters and their vehicles cheering for their respective candidates.
A section of the crowd also thronged the DC’s office during the scrutiny of the nomination papers.
East Jaiñtia Hills District Election Officer, Abhilash Baranwal said police were stationed at the building but since the boundary wall of the building has not been constructed yet, people started pouring in.
“We had to take a call if we wanted to disperse the crowd because it might have created a law and order situation and that is why we allowed a small violation in order to ensure that no untoward incidents take place,” he said.
Baranwal informed that the police in the district is understaffed and without a traffic branch ever since the district was created in 2012.
He said most of the police are deployed for election duty like securing the perimeter of the office, naka duty and others.
Recalling the severe landslides last year Baranwal said “What we have done now is place an SOP and we are in continuous touch with NHAI in case any landslide takes place. Though these are short term measures, we are in a position to clear those landslides in a minimum possible time.”
He also informed that the NHIDCL has already proposed four-laning and a survey for the alignment is ongoing.
Meanwhile, though the capital city that witnessed agonising traffic gridlock during filing of nominations had none on scrutiny day. But commuters along the Upper Shillong road who had harrowing time after experiencing the nomination traffic jams were left hassled yet once again because of excavation works.
Laying of Ductile Iron (DI) pipes of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department on the National Highway-40 at 7th Mile, Upper Shillong brought traffic to a grinding halt from last night till today.
A commuter said it took five hours to get from Umshyrpi bridge to 3rd Mile Upper Shillong. Students had to walk to reach school for their pre board exams. This morning most students returned back home as the serpentine traffic jam was not budging even an inch.
A commuter said, “I started from the city at around 8:30 am to go to Sohra but I managed to cross 7th Mile Upper Shillong at 11:30 am today.”
The NH-40 at Upper Shillong connects to more than four districts of the State. Commuters felt that prior arrangements should have been made to ensure smooth flow of traffic.
