New Delhi: With at least 18,000 marriages set to be held in Delhi over the next few days from Sunday, get ready for traffic snarls, wedding lights, bands and processions galore in the capital.
"Roughly 18,000 couples will tie the knot between December 10-13, which will be organised on roads, narrow lanes of the city, 746 parks, 200 MCD community halls, 46 DDA parks, 50 DDA community halls and 58 farmhouses," an MCD official, who did not want to be identified, said.
According to a prominent astrologer of the city, the stars foretell that couples getting married between these dates will have a smooth married life and there will be few clashes between husband and wife.
"The planet Jupiter - for the husband - and Venus - for the wife - are both in a strong position and well placed from Dec 10 to 13. This is the reason why so many marriages are happening on these dates," said astrologer J K Sethi.
"These dates are the most auspicious for weddings. After the 13th, the month of Paus (according to Hindu calendar) and Malaymaas (a period not considered good for weddings) will start, as the Shukra tara (Polar star) will sink. Then marriages will only happen in January," said a priest Lakshman Prasad.
The marriage season signals a nightmare for Delhiites, as traffic jams become the norm. However, traffic police say they are ready with plans to avoid snarls.
"To control traffic on roads we will depute around 200-300 traffic policemen. In an average marriage nearly 500 vehicles come. During the rush hours (2230 hrs IST to 0100 hrs IST) there will be around 1,50,000 vehicles trying to reach some marriage. To add to it, from 9.30 p.m. onwards commercial vehicles like trucks will also start plying," said Deputy Commissioner Police traffic H P S. Virk.
"To solve the parking problem, we have asked owners of community halls and farm houses to provide private security guards who would help with the parking. We have also roped in the Banquet Hall Association to look after the parking," Virk said.
With so many marriages around the same time, the demand for priests, five star hotel rooms, banquet halls, caterers, beauty parlours and florists has gone sky high and the suppliers are running short.
"We are already booked. In fact we are booked three months in advance for arranging theme marriages, tent and catering services. But the demand is more than what we can provide for," said Karan, owner of Gautam Tents & Event Pvt. Ltd.
"We were booked in advance from Dec 10-13. But new booking offers keep coming as so many marriages are taking place on the same dates this month," said Nidhi Tang, sales executive at the five-star Hotel Ashoka.
Even if there is no shortage of services, the service providers are portraying it as such in order to hike up their rates.
"The banquet hall owners, tent and catering service providers consider the marriage of a couple as two separate marriages - one of the bride and the other of the bridegroom. They do so deliberately and charge high rates from the customers, citing the large demand for their services," said an official.
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