Uttar Pradesh: Traffic hit, cars crawl, trucks break down

NOIDA/GHAZIABAD: Traffic movement fell victim to rain again in Noida and Ghaziabad on Friday.
Visibility was reduced so much on a misty Friday morning that at least four vehicles collided with each other near Film City. None suffered any injuries, but the vehicles were damaged. A traffic police team rushed to the spot and cleared the road.
Traffic remained slow also on the Noida-Greater Noida expressway, DND Flyway, Kalindi Kunj, Model Town crossing, and Haldoni Mod in Greater Noida.
Ashutosh Singh, the Noida traffic inspector, said people usually drive slowly during rain. "At times, vehicles break down and end up choking the road. Some bikers also shelter under flyovers, which leave narrow space for traffic movement and lead to snarls," he added.
On Friday morning, a truck broke down on Film City road near Dalit Prerna Sthal. A police team pushed the truck to the side of the road as vehicles had started to pile up. Another truck broke down near Etcher Chowk in Greater Noida, causing a snarl. There was heavy traffic at Honda Chowk and Parthala Chowk as well.
Brajesh Kumar Sharma, a resident of Antriksh Golf View in Sector 78, had left for his office in Delhi's Siri Fort area. "In the morning, the traffic was smooth as school buses were off the roads, and there were fewer bikers. However, in the evening, there was traffic congestion near Film City," he said.
Commuters in Ghaziabad faced snarls on GT Road, Hapur Road, Meerut-Tiraha and the NH-9 underpass due to flooding. Abhishek Srivastava, a commuter, said he was stuck at Bhopura for two hours.
Anurag Kulshrestha, the president of a road safety NGO, TRAX, said, "When it rains, the traffic of 2-3 lanes narrows down to just one as most do not want to drive on the waterlogged portions. This creates a bottleneck. If a vehicle breaks down, it adds to the problem," he said.