Crowd swelled as the day progressed and there were traffic snarls in areas surrounding the venue. At the venue, long queues of visitors could be seen at various entry points. However, the long queues did not deter the visitors as they patiently waited for their turn for security checks. Santosh Singh, a resident of the Chinhat area in Lucknow, said he stood in a long queue at 10 am and was finally able to pass the security check around 1 pm

Lucknow: A large number of people thronged the DefExpo 2020 venue here to get a glimpse of India's growing defence prowess as the showpiece event was opened to public on Saturday. All roads led to the venue in the southern part of the state capital.

Crowd swelled as the day progressed and there were traffic snarls in areas surrounding the venue.

At the venue, long queues of visitors could be seen at various entry points. However, the long queues did not deter the visitors as they patiently waited for their turn for security checks.

Santosh Singh, a resident of the Chinhat area in Lucknow, said he stood in a long queue at 10 am and was finally able to pass the security check around 1 pm.

"Like me, thousands of people have come from other parts of Lucknow and districts to have a first-hand idea of the event," Singh said.

"There is undoubtedly a high quotient of excitement among the visitors. Tanks on display are the most sought after equipment as they provide the best background to click selfies," he said.

Anupam Chauhan, who lives in the Indiranagar area of Lucknow, said, "The response to the mega event is definitely positive among the residents."

"Live demonstrations at the DefExpo venue are the biggest crowd-pullers," Chauhan said.

A resident of IIM Road, Bharat Singh 'Pooredarbar' has termed the ongoing DefExpo as a "good platform to showcase" India's military prowess, and also a good occasion to highlight India as a defence manufacturing hub.

He said, "Excitement among people of all age groups was clearly visible at the DefExpo."

Social media entrepreneur Aadesh Shukla, who lives in the Dubagga area of the state capital, said, "The ongoing Defence Expo in Lucknow has evoked a tremendous response from the people. What is more pleasing to see is that people are going through various social media tool links of the DefExpo to know more about it, and then uploading their special moments of the DefExpo on various social media platforms."

Buses have been deployed to facilitate people to go to the venue of the DefExpo on Saturday and Sunday. AC buses have also been deployed.

These buses will not charge any ticket from passengers.

Lucknow regional manager of Uttar Pradesh State Roadways Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) Pallav Bose said, "Buses have been deployed on 13 routes for DefExpo. The buses will be in operation from 8 am to 6 pm."