Noida (Jewar): As the evening of Dhanteras approached, heavy crowds began gathering on the main routes connecting Delhi-NCR to other regions. A huge traffic jam was reported at Jewar Toll Plaza, where long queues of vehicles stretched for several kilometers. With everyone eager to reach their hometowns for the festive season, vehicle movement slowed down considerably, causing inconvenience to commuters. Such scenes are common during major festivals, but insufficient preparation and minor negligence often result in severe traffic woes.
Festive Rush Begins on Major Expressways
On Saturday evening, as offices closed for the weekend, lakhs of people began leaving for their hometowns via the Yamuna Expressway, Agra Expressway, and other major routes. Consequently, massive congestion developed on the highways. The Jewar Toll Plaza, which connects Noida to Agra, witnessed a severe traffic jam, delaying thousands of travelers heading home for Diwali celebrations.
Families from Delhi, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, and other NCR areas started their journeys early Saturday morning to celebrate Diwali, Govardhan Puja, and Bhai Dooj in their native towns. The continuous inflow of vehicles caused long queues at toll booths throughout the day.
Traffic Situation at Jewar Toll
Due to the growing number of vehicles heading toward Agra, traffic at the Jewar Toll Plaza came to a standstill several times. Motorists were forced to wait 5 to 10 minutes to cross the toll gate.
Although toll management had anticipated an increase in vehicle pressure and opened all two-wheeler and four-wheeler lanes since morning, congestion persisted during both morning (6 AM–10 AM) and evening (after 3 PM) hours.
Technical Issues Added to the Chaos
Toll management officials reported that several vehicles faced problems due to low balance or blacklisted FASTag accounts, which prevented automatic toll deduction. To handle this, additional staff were deployed to collect cash and card payments separately. However, even a 30-second delay per vehicle led to growing queues behind each lane.
JK Sharma, Senior Toll Manager, stated:
“We had all lanes operational since morning—three for two-wheelers and eleven for four-wheelers. Despite this, due to FASTag issues and the festive rush, some delays were unavoidable. Extra personnel were deployed to ensure vehicles moved as quickly as possible.”
Commuters Shared Videos and Complaints
Several travelers took to social media to share videos and pictures of the long traffic jams at Jewar Toll. Commuters reported that congestion had started building up since early morning, especially from the Greater Noida side, as more vehicles arrived than the toll plaza’s handling capacity.
Despite efforts to ease traffic flow, the mass exodus for Diwali turned the Yamuna Expressway into a slow-moving stretch for much of the day, with 5–10 minute delays at the toll plazas.
