Truck breakdown holds up Noida Expressway traffic

Commuters were held up for nearly one-and-a-half hour after a truck broke down near Dalit Prerna Sthal

Morning peak hours on Wednesday turned harrowing for thousands of commuters on Noida Expressway as a truck broke down near Dalit Prerna Sthal causing more than one-kilometre-long jam.

A one-kilometre long queue of vehicles was witnessed on the expressway on Wednesday morning. (Salman Ali/HT Photo)

Commuters were held up for nearly one-and-a-half hour on the stretch. Several office goers heading from Noida and Greater Noida to Delhi via Chilla border took to Twitter as they hit the jam near Mahamaya flyover. The traffic police team received information about the blockage at around 10am and sent a team of constables and crane to remove the truck blocking traffic on the Greater Noida to Noida carriageway.

“There was jam on Greater Noida to Noida side for about 45 minutes. In such situations it becomes difficult to tow away damaged or stationary vehicle but we did it in 30-40 minutes,” said Dharmendra Singh Yadav, traffic inspector, Gautam Budh Nagar.

Commuters said that the team patrolling the expressway should be alert to any breakdowns and remove such vehicles immediately.

“We have never seen the expressway traffic patrol team active, which is why police get information only from the commuters and by that time there is already a jam,” said Surender Singh, a commuter.

“The Noida traffic police do not have adequate crane and staff to act promptly in such situations. I have witnessed such jams due to slow action on part of the traffic police in arranging cranes. For the expressway, there should be special arrangements,” said Sudhir Sachdeva, resident Pandav Nagar Delhi.

Meanwhile, the city traffic police have been reeling under severe staff crunch besides dealing with poor infrastructure. They have demanded three interceptor vehicles for round the clock emergency services. Presently, they have only one interceptor.

“We have raised these issues several times at every high-level meeting with officials. However, things are moving fast now. We hope that once we have an integrated traffic management system (ITMS) in place the traffic would become smooth,” said Prabal Pratap Singh, superintendent of police, Noida.