Noida gridlocked as PM makes his way to Greater Noida for Semicon opening
Noida traffic police halted vehicles on the expressway around 10am when Modi’s convoy entered Noida. This caused significant congestion and all roads leading to the expressway was gridlocked for most of the morning hours
Traffic heading towards Noida-Greater Noida Expressway was gridlocked on Wednesday morning as Noida traffic police halted vehicles for around half-an-hour to make way for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s convoy that was headed to India Expo Mart in Greater Noida where the PM inaugurated the Semicon India programme.
Semicon India 2024 is being organised from September 11 to 13 with the theme “Shaping the Semiconductor Future”. The three-day conference will showcase India’s semiconductor strategy and witness the participation of top leaders of global semiconductor giants.
Noida traffic police halted vehicles on the expressway around 10am when Modi’s convoy entered Noida. This caused significant congestion and all roads leading to the expressway was gridlocked for most of the morning hours.
Traffic police said the PM travelled from Delhi to Greater Noida via the Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) Flyway and the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway.
People headed towards Noida from Delhi remained stuck in kilometres-long snarl on the DND Flyway.
Traffic police said they had issued an advisory regarding the diversions and restrictions in the city during the PM visit. “As per the traffic advisory, we stopped the traffic for around seven minutes on DND Flyway and the expressway to facilitate the PM motorcade. The traffic restrictions were relaxed after the motorcade crossed the expressway,” said Yamuna Prasad, deputy commissioner of police, traffic.
Commuters on these two routes said they were stuck in congestion for more than an hour. Rajat Gupta, a resident of Sector 15, said he was stuck in congestion for about 45 minutes near Film City. “I left home around 9.45am for my office in Greater Noida and got stuck after traffic was halted near expressway. I was unaware of the VIP movement, but the traffic police should have made an elaborate plan to avoid any inconvenience to the common man,” he said.
Traffic congestion was reported at Chilla border, Sector 16, 18, Panchseel Bala Vidyalaya underpass and around GIP Mall after all roads leading towards expressway were blocked by police.
As the tailbacks grew longer, many people, including office goers, expressed their frustration on X.
Gaurishankar Mishra posted on X, saying, “Dear Sir @narendramodi, due to your visit to Greater Noida, the Delhi-Noida border area is completely jam-packed for 1 hour. Children are stuck in their buses and the roads are in a mess currently. The Prime Minister could have gone using a helicopter.”
Another user Niharika Mahajan posted, “I am always puzzled to see common man suffer every time due to VIP movement happening in India. There should be traffic diversion happening. Going to our daily work always gets affected due to these movements.”
After the inauguration, the PM returned to Delhi in a helicopter around 1pm, said officials.