The busy National Highway 65 between Hyderabad and Vijayawada saw severe traffic jams on Saturday evening. A huge rush of vehicles returning to Hyderabad after Sankranti created long lines and slow movement. Traffic police reported between 40,000 to 50,000 vehicles passed through the Panthangi toll plaza alone on Saturday. The flow increased sharply after 4 p.m. and was expected to continue overnight as more families returned to the city. At Suryapet, police noted an average of 40 vehicles every 90 seconds in the evening. Surveillance drones monitored the heavy traffic. The worst congestion was near Kodad. To control jams, police limited NH65 to cars and passenger vehicles only. Heavy trucks, lorries, and goods carriers were diverted to alternate routes via Huzurnagar, Miryalaguda, Haliya, and Chintapally. By 8 p.m., about 600 heavy vehicles had been rerouted. Miryalaguda became a key hotspot because traffic from several places, including Guntur, Macherla, and Tirupati, converged there. Container trucks coming from Krishnapatnam and Visakhapatnam ports also joined the flow. Over 500 police officers from Nalgonda district were on duty to manage the situation. Vehicles heading to Hyderabad from Nalgonda took a detour via Marriguda bypass, Munugodu, Narayanapur, and Choutuppal. Traffic from Macherla was directed through Nagarjunasagar and Peddavura before reaching Chintapally. Additional diversions were made at Chityal through Bhongir. Closer to Hyderabad, more than 150 traffic police worked at Choutuppal, a main city entry point, to keep traffic moving. These measures aimed to prevent a full traffic standstill on NH65 during the busy post-festival travel.