Traffic jam on Noida expressway as portion of road caves in

Only two lanes, out of four, on the Noida-Greater Noida side of the expressway are currently operational due to an underpass work

A heavy traffic jam was witnessed on the Noida expressway on Saturday as a portion of the road (Noida-Greater Noida side) caved in near Sector 142 on Friday evening. Only two lanes, out of four, on the Noida-Greater Noida side of the expressway are currently operational due to an underpass work.

After the cave-in incident, only one lane (Noida-Greater Noida side) of the expressway was operational on Saturday, officials said. (Sunil Ghosh/HT)

After the cave-in incident, only one lane was operational on Saturday, officials said.

Anil Nigam, a resident of Noida’s Sector 49 and dean of journalism department at a Greater Noida college, said that he was stuck in a traffic jam for more than an hour on Saturday morning. “There was at least 2km jam around 8.30am on the expressway. There were no officials from the traffic police at the spot. Due to confusion, some commuters started taking U-turn which added to the traffic mess,” he said.

Nigam also tweeted some photos from the spot drawing attention of the officials.

The cave-in took place due to an underpass work through box push technology, officials of the Noida authority said, adding that the situation on the stretch will be normal in 10 days.

“A portion of the road caved in around 6.30pm on Friday which resulted in traffic jam. We have deployed a team to fix the problem,” said PK Kaushik, general manager, Noida authority.

In the box push technology, the reinforced cement concrete (RCC) boxes are pushed with the help of hydraulic jacks to create a subway tunnel under the road. This ensures the traffic movement on the road does not disturb due to the work.

Another authority official, who wished anonymity, said there are four lanes on the expressway. “The two right lanes were blocked last week due to the construction work. The traffic movement on the two left lanes were functional. After the cave-in incident on Friday evening, we restricted the movement on that lane for repair works,” he said.

The Noida traffic police diverted the Greater Noida bound traffic to service lane near Mahamaya Flyway in Sector 93.

Ganesh Saha, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), Gautam Budh Nagar, said that the two right lanes are blocked while one of the left lanes is unpaved due to Friday’s cave-in and repairing works. “The navigation of vehicles is not smooth on the stretch,” he said.

Saha said that the traffic police personnel have been deployed at the spot to guide commuters. “We also took to social media to inform commuters about the diversion. We have also deployed a crane, in case a vehicle breaks down at the spot,” he said.

The authority started the work on the 434-metre underpass in June 2020 with an aim to provide smooth connectivity between Sector 137/142 and Sector 168, located along the expressway. The underpass is estimated to be ready by December 10, 2021.