Diwan Singh and Santa Devi, a couple in their forties, were climbing a steep 25-foot scree-laden slope with great difficulty to reach the Yamuna Expressway from their village, Dayanatpur. The couple has to do this often just to catch a bus to Aligarh, their native place.

Residents like Diwan Singh, who reside in villages across the Jewar tehsil — where Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently inaugurated the Noida International Airport — are forced to risk their lives daily to board buses from the Yamuna Expressway. This is despite strict pedestrian restrictions and a speed limit of 100 km/h, due to a poor public transportation system in place.