QUEPEM: Amid the chaos and commotion witnessed during the lottery ticket sales for the Quepem Sarvajanik Ganesh Ustav Mandal, a decision has been made to transition to an online platform for ticket distribution next year. Itchit Fal Desai, the President of the mandal, shared this announcement while addressing the public who had lined up from the early hours to secure their tickets.
The lottery ticket counter was scheduled to open early in the morning, around 4.30 to 5 am, and a queue had formed well before dawn. However, due to an overwhelming surge of people, Sunday’s ticket distribution faced a situation where the crowd became unruly and difficult to manage. Despite efforts from the committee and local police on Sunday, the situation escalated to the point where the counter had to be shut down and the ticket distribution was pushed to Monday.
President Fal Desai explained that the large number of attendees made it a challenge to maintain order, leading to the need for a different approach. Consequently, the committee members decided to shift the lottery distribution to an online platform for the next year, aiming to provide a more streamlined and efficient experience for the public.
The situation outside the government college auditorium on Monday morning was equally chaotic, with queues forming as early as 4.30 am. The queue, stretching over a kilometre-and-a-half, consisted of approximately fifteen to twenty thousand people by noon, with around 70 per cent of the available tickets having been sold by that time.
Initially, attendees were permitted to buy five books of tickets, with a limit of three or two books per person. However, due to the circumstances, the distribution strategy was changed on the spot; in the morning, each person was allowed two tickets, and by evening, the allocation was further reduced to one lottery ticket per person. The counter was closed between 5.30 and 6 in the evening.
