Highway feast throws traffic out of gear for two hours in Bihar

Officials vow to take action against villagers over NH-57 blockade

Ameal served to dozens of villagers on a National Highway in Bihar, after a funeral ceremony, led to the blockade of traffic on Monday as the guests sat in the middle of the road.

Hundreds of drivers on National Highway-57 were at their wits’ end on Monday when they encountered villagers sitting in the middle of the road at Phulparas, in Madhubani district, while eating the meal. Barriers put up

There was no option but to inch forward as the villagers had put up barriers.

For more than two hours the villagers, who included children, feasted on the road, hardly taking any note of the hundreds of vehicles left stranded and anxiously waiting for the road to clear. It was only after each villager had his fill that the traffic was finally opened to traffic, officials said.

The local authorities took serious note of the incident and vowed to take action against the villagers.

“Blocking a National Highway to throw a feast is a serious crime. We can’t allow the villagers to do it and have asked the patrolling party to take action against them,” general manager of NH-57, Darbhanga, Manish Mishra told the media yesterday. Villagers say they are forced to use the roads to serve meals for any function in the community owing to a shortage of space in the village.