MADURAI: With just two days left for Deepavali, several hundreds of people thronged Vilakkuthoon, Masi Streets, East and South Avani Moola Streets, and Meenakshi Kovil Street on Friday. However, the street vendors said the monsoon has been playing spoilsport and that it was hard to achieve a full day of sales.
"The roads are covered with sludge. We have to stand full day in this wet mud and customers find it difficult to approach us. A bundle of clothes got all wet due to sudden rain as I did not get time to pack them," said Kasiyammal, one of the street vendors. Meanwhile, R Divya (25), who came to purchase dresses for her children, said clothes for kids were much more expensive than the ones for adults.
The crowds made a beeline to the sweet shops on the streets too. Muthukumar N, who came to milk peda from a shop near Bibikulam, said prices for the sweets and savory were quite reasonable this year. Only the milk sweets were overpriced, he added. A good number of customers also showed interest in buying sweets and clothes from the Freedom Store, which is run by the inmates of Madurai Central Prison.
Meanwhile, the traffic police had a tough time managing the myriad of vehicles and crowds in the city. Inspector of Police (Traffic) for Central Parts of Madurai City A Ramesh Kumar attributed the traffic congestion to the extremely high number of two-wheelers on the streets.
As many as 80 cameras were additionally installed in various places to monitor traffic movement. "People who visit the city for Deepavali shopping can park their two-wheelers on the premises of St. Mary's Higher Secondary School at East Veli Street, Sethupathi Higher Secondary School at North Veli Street, and Sourashtra Boys Higher Secondary School at Kamarajar Salai," Kumar said.