1,500 police force deployed in northern belt to manage crowds; beaches witness surge in tourists despite social media debates
BYE, BYE 2024, WELCOME 2025: Tourists bid farewell to 2024, watching the final sunset of the year from the sands of Calangute beach, on Tuesday.
Photo Credits: Narayan Pissurlenkar
PANAJI
With choc-o-block traffic in the lanes and by-lanes of beach hotspots in North Goa, the men-in-uniform had their hands full on New Year’s eve as tourists, both domestic and international, flocked to the State to bid farewell to the old and ring in the New Year 2025.
More than checking drunken driving, police had a hard time regulating traffic flow especially in the Porvorim stretch of the NH-66 amidst the ongoing work on the flyover.
Overall, the entire northern belt alone is policed by a 1,500-strong force for the New Year’s Eve, the police said.
Meanwhile, despite the debate on social media that tourists are abandoning the State in preference for other destinations with pics of seemingly empty streets, beaches in the State saw a surge of crowds mostly tourists for the cliche New Year’s Eve do – watching the last sunset of the old year.
Beaches in the northern belt were a sea of people.
Many locals, particularly those belonging to the minority Catholic community, preferred to ring in the New Year in the traditional way, thronging churches and other open air venues for midnight services and visiting each other’s homes.
Fireworks at the stroke of midnight were visible across the State as people joined in revelry at various events, both traditional dances and commercial New Year parties at nightclubs and hotels.
Another Goan tradition of burning the ‘Old Man’ was seen practiced in abundance both in cities and the rural locales. The tradition involves youngsters making an effigy using old clothes and hay with a paper mache face and placing it on an easy chair before it is burnt at midnight. It symbolises saying goodbye to the past year and welcoming the new one.
