Regardless of restrictions in force due to COVID-19, thousands of visitors celebrated the dawn of 2021 with fervour on the beach promenade in the Union Territory.
Though there were stringent regulations imposed by the police on public gatherings due to COVID-19 l, local residents and domestic tourists thronged the Promenade Beach to welcome the New Year with enthusiasm.
Traffic went haywire in the town on Thursday as crowds started gathering on the beach road. The police compartmentalised Beach Road by putting up barricades and limited the crowd to around 600 in each of the 10 compartments. People were screened using thermal scanners before being allowed on the beach road.
Those not wearing masks were turned away and in some areas on the stretch police gave masks to people. Police had to use mild caning to disperse the crowd near the Gandhi Statue for not following social distancing norms.
On New Year’s Day on Friday, people thronged religious places to offer worship at special pujas in temples and services in churches.
Serpentine queues were witnessed at Manakula Vinayagar temple. Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy offered prayers at the temple and distributed sweets to devotees.
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