Team Herald
PANJIM: On Saturday, the third day of the Ganesh festival, the pace of life in the major towns in the State was still very slow. The long weekend for government servants began on Thursday with Friday being the second Chaturthi holiday and stretched to the weekly Saturday and Sunday offs.
The long weekend ensured there was no government department functioning in the last four days. Most ministers, MLAs and government officers have been out of contact with many having returned to their native places for the celebrations.
“Most the government servants live in the major towns but during Chaturthi all of them go back to their roots to celebrate it with their families,” said a retired government servant.
Similarly, many politicians were busy visiting the homes of their workers and friends in the constituencies.
In the last few days Panjim seemed almost a ghost city with 80 percent of the business establishments with shutters downed.
“As it has been a long weekend thousands of tourists have flocked to the State but they are disappointed that few shops and restaurants are open,” said shopkeeper Niraj Sawant. He added that with liquor shops closed many tourists were left disappointed.
Senior citizen Peter Rodrigues, from Panjim, justifying the closedown during Chaturthi said that this is the only break businessmen in Goa get. “Many of them use this festival time to renovate their premises or stay home for celebrations. I feel there is nothing wrong in that,” he said.
Government servant Damodar Naik said, “This is the only time we get to be with the family. For the entire year we hardly meet but these five to seven days is family time and we making sure, we are there.”
The pace will pick up later this week, as Monday is the fifth day of Chaturthi, the second immersion day. Many will return to work after this.
