Police are monitoring the traffic on the Vijayawada-Hyderabad National Highway through drones on Sunday. | Photo credit: HANDOUT
Heavy traffic was seen on all major thoroughfares with many people returning to work after celebrating Sankranti on Sunday.
Vehicular movement was slow on national highways leading to Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and other cities, while heavy traffic was seen at some toll gates as many private vehicles and buses queued up on the roads. Huge rush was seen at all bus and railway stations and special services were run by APSRTC and Indian Railways to clear the festival rush.
“Expecting traffic problems and non-availability of tickets, we came on a two-wheeler from Hyderabad to Narsapur. Still, we were caught in traffic for some time,” said K. Balaji, who was traveling with a friend.
Meanwhile, the morning traffic was slow to move due to the fog. Many people started after the ‘Amavasya’ timing, which was only after 12 noon on Sunday, said V. Vasanth Kumar, a technician who was traveling to Chennai by car.
NTR Commissioner of Police SV Rajasekhar Babu said that the police is monitoring traffic movement through drones in Kanchikacherla, Nandigama, Jaggaiahpeta and AP-Telangana border. “Additional staff have been deployed at the toll gates to avoid traffic jams,” the police commissioner said. He praised the traffic and order police for avoiding traffic jams despite the heavy rush.
Long queues were witnessed on Guntur-Hyderabad, Vijayawada-Chennai, Vijayawada-Hyderabad and other national and state highways.
“More traffic is expected in the next few hours and the rush may continue till Monday evening,” said a police officer who was regulating traffic on the Vijayawada-Hyderabad highway.
Published – 18 Jan 2026 21:36 IST
