India's flagship automobile show Auto Expo continued to draw big crowds despite being held far from the Capital recording an estimated 1.05 lakh visitors on Monday, the penultimate day of the week-long spectacle.
According to Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the total number of entries at the expo today was 1.05 lakh, which is less than 16,000 from yesterday.
With the first half of the day reserved for business visitors, it was only in the second half that crowds started to build up at the venue today. Even during the business hours, people could be seen at various gates, waiting eagerly for their turn to get inside the venue.
During the day, maximum rush was witnessed at the hall exhibiting luxury car brands -- Audi, BMW and Mercedes Benz.
Although most of the people waited patiently for their turn to get inside the hall to get a glimpse of their favourite cars, police had to intervene a couple of times to regulate entry into the pavilion.
Halls hosting the stalls of Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motor, Honda Cars, Renault, Tata Motors and Jaguar Land Rover also attracted huge crowds. Two-wheeler makers, including Harley Davidson and Yamaha, too had a tough time controlling the crowds as people thronged their pavilions.
In the morning, traffic on the six-lane Noida-Greater Noida Expressway was normal with no major traffic snarls reported but the situation changed dramatically in the evening.
Uttar Pradesh Police had hard time managing a serpentine queue of vehicles, specially at the exit points of venue.
The biennial show had attracted more than 1.21 lakh visitors yesterday.
Space constraints forced the organisers to split the 12th edition of the Auto Expo, which runs until February 11. The motor show is being held at Greater Noida and the auto components exhibition is at Pragati Maidan in Delhi.
