The annual shopping festival of Agartala City, mostly known as Chaitra Mela began on Wednesday after a spell of arguments and conflict of thoughts among different groups pertaining to the fair. The "reduction sales" people generally used to call it for the heavy discounts imposed on products that essentially sold with a much higher price tag in the shops. The clouds of uncertainty were hovering over the fair this year as the Covid 19 cases were rising day by day and administration was unwilling to invite unnecessary crowding in the city. During these last ten to fifteen days of Bengali year ending people from across the state gather to attend the annual shopping days. The Agartala Municipal Corporation had at the first place wanted not to hold the sales this year but in face of the pressure being put by the traders,it was finally decided that the makeshift shops would be put up at Children's park Agartala for its open space. 

The administration had also arranged the shops in such a way that each of the shops gets positioned at a distance of six feet from each other.

Meanwhile, speaking on the matter, one of the traders said, "we have been given space here which is adequate. Other facilities like electricity and water are also being made on the part of AMC". 

Some of the traders, however, alleged that they were not given space at Shakuntala road but some shopkeepers had already extended their shops onto the streets. "If a permanent shop owner does business in the guise of a footpath trader as people will come to us. If such situations persist it will be hard for us to manage things", said another woman traders.