Fallen ‘Grand old tree’ causes traffic snarls

A huge ‘Grand old tree’ that stood for years along Purana Bazar and Naharbari (NH-29) area stumbled down wee hours Friday morning blocking the highway and causing massive traffic congestion for several hours during the day.

The tree was suspected to have been uprooted and felled by an early morning storm. The electric wires above the road reportedly snapped affecting power supply at Purana Bazar and Airport area which was restored later.

According to Dimapur traffic, the night duty personnel received a phone call about the uprooted tree around 3 a.m. They immediately rushed to the spot and regulated vehicular movements.

Heavy vehicles coming from Kohima side was diverted from 3rd mile via Nagarjan while light vehicles coming from Padumpukhri was diverted via Purana Bazar petrol pump.

Heavy vehicles heading towards Kohima was diverted from Burma Camp via Nagarjan while light vehicles from Purana Bazar petrol pump via Padumpukhri.

Dimapur traffic sources said that the road was cleared by 5 p.m. and that vehicular movement was now “normal”.
Despite Dimapur Traffic police’s efforts to regulate vehicular movements, heavy traffic congestion caused by the felled tree caused immense trouble for motorists and travelers along the highway.

A volunteer was seen taking off his shirt and single handedly helping regulate traffic movements along the Nagarjan road near the fishery department where the road was under construction and where no traffic police personnel were present.

Workers from the forest department, ad-hoc town council and BRO assisted by the district administration and Dimapur police worked throughout the day but they could partially clear the affected highway only late in the evening.

A passerby was of the view that the tree could not have been uprooted just by the morning storm and indicated that the excessive digging of drainage for cables could also be partly responsible for the same. 

While vehicular traffic was regulated, the huge trunk of the fallen tree was still lying across the highway Firday night till the filing of this report.