Chennai: With just one week left for Diwali, people flocked to shopping streets to buy new clothes and sweets. Sales at textile shops picked up briskly.
Diwali will be celebrated on Sunday, Nov. 8. With just one week left for the festival, all of Chennai’s major commercial areas had been decked out in a festive look since yesterday morning. Crowds were seen everywhere one turned. Roads everywhere were lined with vehicles.
People flocked to textile shops and shopping streets with their families to buy new clothes, snacks, and crackers. As a result, there was an unmanageable crowd in the capital’s main commercial hubs, including T. Nagar, Purasawalkam, Broadway, Vannarapettai, Chromepet, and Padi. In anticipation of Diwali, people shopped enthusiastically, moving from store to store with their families to choose from the various new styles of clothing that have been introduced.
Pants, shirts, churidars, silk sarees, and all kinds of clothing, right up to traditional veshtis, sold out briskly. Business was booming not only at well-known textile stores but also at roadside shops. Shopping complexes were packed as tens of thousands of people from suburban areas such as Tiruvallur and Kanchipuram flocked in. After shopping, people went out to eat with their families, so long queues were seen at hotels and bakeries.
Intensive police security was deployed on major commercial streets to prevent crimes such as theft from taking advantage of the crowd. Police personnel are monitoring the gathering by setting up watchtowers and issuing warnings through loudspeakers. Traffic police were engaged in intensive traffic management work to control vehicle congestion on the roads. The crowd is expected to increase further today, the last day of the week (Sunday). As a result, additional security and facilities have been put in place in the shopping streets.