The 35th edition of the India International Trade Fair (IITF) witnessed a heavy footfall with more than 2 lakh people visiting Pragati Maidan from across the city and National Capital Region (NCR) on Sunday.
The Metro Station which is next to Pragati Maidan also witnessed a huge crowd as people preferred to board train to reach the venue. According to metro officials, it experienced a footfall of over 97 thousand people till 8pm. Also, over 1,05732 tickets were sold from the metro station on Sunday.
Despite the huge gathering, everything went on smooth. Police camps were in action across all the entry points of trade fair. Tight security arrangements were made by the Delhi Police, CISF (Central Industrial Security Force), Rajasthan Armed Constabulary (RAC) and private security agencies hired by IITF organising committee for the safety of visitors.
But, there were some people who complained about parking facilities as the parking fees was raised to Rs185 for six hours for a four-wheeler and Rs90 for a two-wheeler. Besides, a large number of people from various age groups, including students and families, were not interested much in shopping due to high prices of items, but visited the fair for spending quality time with their loved ones.
"I have come with friends to spend Sunday. I am not much interested in shopping as the prices are high but will try to find the same material in local markets of the city," said Susmita Chowdhary.
The traffic which was smooth throughout the day became congested on Mathura road after 6 pm as soon as people started coming out of the fair.