As the country gears up to ring the Christmas and New Year festivities, the holiday season has paved way for crowding at public places, traffic restrictions and more. This comes as people have been advised to take Covid-19 precautions amid an uptick in infections in China and some other parts of the world.
➡️Delhi Christmas: Traffic advisory, crowded festivities
Delhi Police on Friday issued traffic advisory ahead of the Christmas celebrations in the national capital informing people about the diversions.
According to the advisory, churches such as Sacred Heart Cathedral at Gol Dak Khana, Nirmal Hriday Church at Majnu Ka Tila, Free Church at 10 Sansad Marg, Saint Mariam Church at Burari, Methodist Church Lodhi Road, Christ Methodist Church near St. Stephen Hospital, St. James Church at Kashmiri Gate, Church of God at Hauz Khas, St. Francis Church at Tahirpur, Emmanuel Baptist Church at Civil Lines.
These areas will be expecting large crowds of devotees during the Christmas Day celebrations from Saturday evening till Sunday. Heavy traffic is likely to be witnessed near these routes.
The traffic diversion will take place from roundabout RML going towards Gol Dak Khana, from Bhai Veer Singh Marg/Kali Bari T point going towards Gol Dak Khana, from Patel Chowk on Ashoka Road going towards Gol Dak Khana, from Outer circle Connaught Place going towards Gok Dak Khana on Baba Kharak Singh Marg, the advisory said.
In fact, Delhi roads witnessed traffic on the Christmas weekend as the Delhi police received 31 calls of traffic jam in the city on Friday.
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➡️Goa Christmas: Tourist season, Covid precautions
As Goa is gearing up for the holiday season, the state government on Friday appealed to the people to take Covid-19 precautions, but not panic. A meeting of various departments was held to discuss the preparedness to tackle any eventuality on the Covid-19 front, news agency PTI reported.
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This is important for the state amid the ongoing tourist season, which attracts international and domestic tourists in large numbers.
Speaking to reporters after chairing a meeting with officials, state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said the Union government has asked the states to remain alert about the Covid-19 infection.
Amid a heavy tourist season, the government has also asked police to increase surveillance against drugs sale and consumption, clamp down on drunk driving, illegal parking of vehicles and step up patrolling in sensitive areas.
➡️Bengal Christmas: Grand festivities, firecrackers
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said her government is not currently planning any restrictions on the Christmas celebrations in view of the advent of a new Covid-19 variant, maintaining that it has not yet been detected in the state.
Ahead of Christmas day, several traffic restrictions have been imposed in Kolkata where holiday celebrations are in full swing.
Over 3,000 police personnel will be deployed in Kolkata’s Park Street on Christmas day. The state government has also allowed bursting of fireworks from 11.55 pm to 12:30 am on December 24th.
Parking will not be allowed in the same area. Vehicle movement may be regulated at and around the Victoria Memorial, Birla Planetarium, Alipore zoo, Pareshnath Temple, Kali temple in Kalighat, Thanthania Kalibari, and surrounding areas, according to Telegraph India.
➡️Maharashtra Christmas: Restaurants, traffic
Ahead of celebrations, Pune police issued traffic advisory in the Camp area on Christmas Day. Traffic will be diverted from Y junction to MG raod. Roads will be closed from Iskcon Temple Chowk to Babasaheb Ambedkar statue, Volga Chowk to Mohammad Rafi Chowk and from Indira Gandhi Chowk to Mahavir Chowk
Meanwhile, Bombay High Court restrained several hotels, pubs and restaurants in Mumbai from playing a list of popular film and non-film music during Christmas and New Year’s Eve programmes unless they pay license fees and secure copyright permissions from music licensing body Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL).
➡️Kerala Christmas: 51 special trains to cater rush
At least 51 special trains will be on the run to cater to the extra rush of passengers during Christmas-New Year season to Kerala.
In a statement, the Southern Railway announced 17 special train services to different places in Kerala for Christmas and New Year.
“Apart from the special trains notified by Southern Railway, other zonal railways have notified a total of 34 services to Kerala — 22 special trains by South Central Railway, eight special trains by South Western Railway and four special trains by East Coast Railway,” it said. These are operational from December 22 to January 2.
➡️Tamil Nadu Christmas: Security beef in churches
Security has been beefed up in Chennai as police have deployed CCTV cameras around areas where crowds are expected.
Nearly 8,000 police personnel will be deployed in the capital on Christmas eve and day, Indian Express reported. Chennai has 350 churches across the city.
Special arrangements have been made at popular churches like Santhome church, St Anthony Church, Annai Velankanni church among others.
➡️Karnataka Christmas: Grand Churches, cultural festivities
In Karnataka’s Bengaluru, a host of cultural and festive events are on cards during the Christmas weekend.
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Popular churches like the St. Mary’s Basilica celebrates the festival in a grand way and attracts a massive crowd for its midnight mass. Similarly St Patrick’s Church on Brigade Road, Saint Mark’s Cathedral on MG Road are other popular places to visit.
➡️Telangana Christmas: Events
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao attended Christmas celebrations organised by the state government said Telangana has achieved rapid progress in the last seven years as seen in per capita income touching Rs 2.75 lakh.
➡️Airfares hiked during holiday season
The holiday rush has made travelling more fun but also more expensive. The massive rush has resulted in air faires almost doubling to popular destinations across the country.
Air routes like Mumbai-Kochi, Bengaluru-Goa, Delhi-Chennai witnessed peak prices, according to The Financial Express. An Air India flight from Kochi to Mumbai, on December 24th was priced at rs 45,000.
Popular destinations like Delhi, Goa, Mumbai and Bengaluru are seeing an upsurge in demand during the holiday season and there has been a “100 per cent jump in their air fares,” FE reported.
➡️Around the world
In the UK, traffic is set to reach pre-covid levels this Christmas. This is also coming at the time of rail strikes.
Set to be the busiest day of 2022’s festive season, Christmas eve is set to see 40 per cent of the 20 million UK trips, according to BBC. The M4 at Newport and Port Talbot are forecast to be Wales’ busiest roads.
With agency inputs
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