Panjim: With city dwellers eager to shop at the last few hours of the festival of lights- Diwali, all roads leading to the Panjim city were chock-a-block with vehicles leading to traffic jams. The situation worsened with influx of thousands, who entered city to see the big effigies of Demon ‘Narkasur’.
The 18-June road and the Panjim municipal market was busiest with shoppers looking to buy clothes, gifts and sweets for Deepavali. The COVID health norms like social distancing as well as wearing of mask was thrown to wind.
Since Thursday evening, the volume of traffic has been on a steady rise putting traffic cops on their toes. The police said that the pre-Diwali shopping and Narkasur celebration, is the main reason behind the jam.
There were traffic policemen deputed in several places but they were unable to regulate the incoming crowd.
The city market was flooded with the customers, with shopkeepers claiming to have a bumper sale for the season. However, this time, very limited fireworks were available. “There are traffic police in place but the traffic is just out of their control. We cannot blame the police,” a buyer said. The traffic woes increased with double and triple parking of two-wheeler vehicles in the city.
Meanwhile, the City Corporation announced that it had disbursed Diwali bonus of Rs 6,900 each to its 450 staffers. The total amount came to Rs 32 lakhs.
