Nagpur Diwali markets saw a sharp last-minute shopping rush on Saturday, but encroachments, illegal roadside parking and inadequate traffic management disrupted movement across several of the city’s busiest commercial areas. Crowded stretches in Sitabuldi, Itwari, Cotton Market, Mahal and Jaripatka became difficult to navigate as pedestrians and vehicles competed for limited road space.
Shoppers visited the markets for clothes, jewellery, decorative items, sweets, diyas, rangoli colours, flowers and puja essentials. Footfall increased through the evening, with illuminated shopfronts, festive decorations and discounts drawing families to commercial hubs for final Diwali purchases. Traders said the late shopping surge provided an important boost to festive-season business.
The increase in activity, however, exposed continuing gaps in the management of public space around the markets. Footpaths in several locations were occupied by roadside vendors, while some vendors also spilled onto carriageways. With pedestrian areas blocked, shoppers were forced to walk close to moving vehicles or weave through congested lanes.
Illegal and haphazard parking further narrowed already busy roads and contributed to traffic snarls. Women, children and senior citizens were among those negotiating the crowded stretches on foot. Shivani Raut, a shopper at Sitabuldi, said pedestrians had little safe space to walk because footpaths were occupied and vehicles were moving through the same areas.
A visit by the Times of India found limited visible enforcement by civic authorities and traffic police in some market stretches during the rush. The situation highlighted the operational challenge faced by cities during festival periods, when temporary increases in pedestrian and vehicle movement place additional pressure on footpaths, parking arrangements and traffic controls.
Sanjay Kamble, assistant municipal commissioner for enforcement, said the Nagpur Municipal Corporation had intensified its anti-encroachment drive across the city. About 70 personnel from the central enforcement team, along with teams from all 10 municipal zones, were conducting operations until late at night, he said.
Kamble also acknowledged that enforcement had not permanently cleared the affected stretches. According to him, squatters often return after civic teams leave an area, even when articles have been confiscated from footpaths and roads. This leaves authorities repeatedly clearing the same locations without preventing the reoccupation of pedestrian space.
DCP (Traffic) Aditya Mirkhelkar acknowledged the traffic and encroachment problem and said joint action with the NMC would be intensified. He said traffic authorities had been regularly taking action against encroachments on footpaths and would further strengthen the crackdown.
The immediate issue for shoppers was access and safety during one of the year’s busiest retail periods. The next phase of enforcement will depend on whether the NMC and traffic police maintain joint action across the identified market areas after the festive rush and prevent footpaths and carriageways from being occupied again.
