Unlike every year, the shopping spree which generally kicks off a week or two before the Christmas has been a non-starter this year. The reason, though ironic, is the very celebration that the citizens are indulged in—Hockey World Cup and .FEST. The shopping has been marred by security arrangements and traffic restrictions.
Bhubaneswar: The Christmas is just around the corner and the city which is already decked up for the Men’s Hockey World Cup and the city fest (.FEST) will soon transcend into a new festive mood. The makeshift shops with jolly mood Santa Clauses welcoming you in and the Christmas ferns with bright white lights all around them, are something which instantly entice you to the shops.
However, unlike every year the shopping spree which generally kicks off a week or two before the Christmas has been a non-starter. The reason, though ironic, is the very celebration that the citizens are indulged in— Hockey World Cup and .FEST.
The seasonal shopping has been marred by security arrangements and traffic restrictions.
Ashok of Old Town, who every year installs a big Christmas makeshift shop near Ram Mandir area here, lamented that this year the traffic department has not given him permission citing Hockey World Cup arrangements which forced him to shift his stall to a different place. Ashok’s shop was initially in front of the St Vincent’s Pro Cathedral and thus he has been a familiar face during the season and carved a niche for him when it came to Christmas shopping in the area. “My customers are unable to find my stall and this is hampering my business. Also, the place from where I am running my shop now is quite smaller compared to the one I had in Satya Nagar,” he said. Ashok currently operates his business from the nearby vegetable and fruits complex but he has not received the due permission from the police. “This is a temporary place and I have also been warned by the city police to shift from here too. You tell me, what I shall do?” he added.
Seasonal businesses like in Christmas, Holi or Diwali depend most on the décor of the shops. In this cramped up place, it’s difficult to even showcase all my products, let alone the decorations, Ashok stated.
Ashok was not the only one with this ordeal.
Santosh Kumar, another shopkeeper in Master Canteen area here, said he and a few other shopkeepers had planned to fancy up the area however the restrictions clamped on them have dried up their festive spirits and left them with no choice. He hoped as the two events wrap up they might be given a chance to operate from where they used to and thus, may “colour the place red and white with bright lights.”
“Instead of telling us not to open shop here or there so as to have a smooth vehicular passage, the traffic department must concentrate on the illegal parking being done here at several places. That could work for both of us,” he added.
The customers too are struggling to find the Christmas shops.
Sanjana, a housewife, said the shop from where she used to shop her Christmas décor has just vanished. “The shops should have been at the prime locations but now we have to drive through alleys and different blocks and locate the shops,” she added.
Sanjay Patnaik said the civic and law enforcement authorities should have pre planned the whole thing before the World Cup and .FEST so as to ensure that the Christmas business does not take a hit. “They should have allotted the shopkeepers a designated place in the city or on its outskirts just like they do during Diwali,” he added.
Responding to the complaints by customers and shopkeepers alike, Assistant Commissioner of Police (traffic) Anup Kumar Kanungo said they had restricted the makeshift shops’ installations at many locations keeping an eye on the traffic congestion which may crop up.
