Shoppers throng bazaar areas for Deepavali shopping in Erode, Salem

Updated - October 30, 2024 06:26 pm IST - ERODE

Crowd at commercial streets making last minute purchases for Deepawali in Erode in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.

Crowd at commercial streets making last minute purchases for Deepawali in Erode in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: M. GOVARTHAN

Thousands of shoppers packed into the city’s bazaar districts on Wednesday, buying clothes, sweets, crackers, and household appliances for Deepavali, leading to widespread traffic disruptions.

Many textile and jewellery showrooms, as well as stores selling home appliances and mobile phones and other commercial establishments, opened earlier than the usual 10 a.m. start to accommodate the demand. With the weather being favourable, the crowds thronging these stores were immense. Temporary stalls and street vendors were also set up along pavements, further congesting movement in key shopping areas.

High footfall was reported on R.K.V. Road, Manikoondu, Panneerselvam Park, Sakthi Road, and several other prominent shopping streets. “The crowd was uncontrollable from the afternoon,” a traffic policeman at Manikoondu noted. To enable easy pedestrian access, police restricted entry of two-wheelers on narrow streets and set up temporary watchtowers for monitoring and crowd safety.

In Salem, heavy crowds were also seen on Chinna Kadai Veethi, Agraharam streets, and around Four Roads, Five Roads, and the new bus stand area. Awareness messages played over loudspeakers as police maintained a vigilant presence to ensure crowd control and protect against pickpocketing.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.