Six-hour traffic jam on Noida expressway

The congestion started after a truck overturned early Thursday. Thousands were stuck on the highway.

Thousands of commuters were stuck in a massive traffic jam on the six-lane Noida-Greater Noida Expressway after a truck overturned early Thursday. It took the traffic police over nine hours to restore normal traffic on the 28.5-km road.

Traffic movement was badly affected between 8am and 2pm and vehicles headed towards Greater Noida from Delhi and Noida moved at a snail’s pace. (Burhaan Kinu/HT Photo)

Traffic movement was badly affected between 8am and 2pm and vehicles heading from Delhi and Noida towards Greater Noida moved at a snail’s pace.

The truck, a goods carrier vehicle, overturned on the Expressway near Sector 96, nearly three kilometres away from the Mahamaya Flyover towards Greater Noida, resulting in the jam.

The truck, a goods carrier vehicle, overturned on the expressway near Sector 96, nearly 3km away from the Mahamaya Flyover towards Greater Noida, resulting in the jam. (HT Photo)

The incident took place around 4:30 am and the team from the traffic police rushed to the spot for immediate action. However, it took them seven hours to get two cranes from Ghaziabad to remove the overturned vehicle.

“It was a truck of a capacity of roughly 150 tonnes, and it was loaded with heavy construction machinery. We called for the local 40-tonne crane, but it failed to do the job. Later, we called Ghaziabad for a heavier crane with a capacity of 100 tonnes. We were able to turn the truck upright using both the cranes. However, all through, our exercise did not disrupt traffic movement,” said Ram Nayan Yadav,

superintendent of police (SP), traffic who was present on the spot with his entire team.

“Since the incident happened early in the morning when traffic was at a minimum, a casualty was avoided. The incident could have caused heavy damage had it taken place during rush hour,” Yadav said.

“I was stuck in the traffic jam and it took me more than two hours to reach Greater Noida from Mahamaya flyover. I was coming from Delhi and as soon as I entered the Noida border around 10 am I noticed the slow movement of traffic. However, I kept moving ahead,” said Samir Srivastav of Delhi.