New Delhi: Cities across India welcomed 2023 with pomp and grandeur. In Delhi, while many gathered in large numbers at India Gate to celebrate, many went partying at pubs and clubs. In Mumbai, excitement was on the rocks where people swayed to exhilarating musical extravaganza at pubs. Many others flocked to Marine Drive on New Year's Eve.
Roads leading to various beaches in Goa witnessed massive traffic jams after midnight on Sunday as lakhs of people turned up on the state's seashore to welcome the New Year. Some of the beach shacks organised fireworks at midnight and revellers were seen enjoying the New Year celebrations. Goa's catholic population welcomed the New Year by attending midnight masses in churches and chapels. A number of clubs in the coastal state organised musical and dance shows.
Kochi welcomed New Year with the mega Cochin Carnival at Fort Kochi. In Mussoorie, people celebrated with dazzling lights, music and dance. A huge crowd had stepped out at Mall Road in Himachal Pradesh's Manali to welcome the New Year. In Odisha's Puri, renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik created an 8-feet high and 15-feet long sand sculpture of Lord Jagannatha at Puri beach. He created the deities of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra using 10 tons of sand and decorated the sculpture with flowers.
The national capital Delhi witnessed heavy security bandobast with over 18,000 personnel from district and traffic units deployed to keep a strict vigil on any kind of violations and ensure security during New Year celebrations. Adequate focus was given to check drinking and driving.
In Mumbai, 10,000 police constables, 1,500 officers, 25 deputy commissioners of police and seven additional commissioners of police have been deployed to maintain law and order, an official said. Apart from this, 46 platoons of the state reserve police force (SRPF), three units of the riot control police and 15 quick response teams (QRT) are also deployed. In Bengaluru, an order was passed to get all New Year's Eve festivities over by 1 AM on January 1. New Year's celebrations must stop at 1 AM on January 2.
