People welcome New Year in Goa with celebration on beaches; traffic jams seen in coastal belt

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.

There was bumper-to-bumper traffic on way to North Goa's beaches including Calangute, Baga, Sinquerim, Morjim, Ashwem amd Keri.

The crowd was comparatively less on South Goa beaches like Palolem and Colva.

The state started witnessing a rush of domestic and international tourists ahead of Christmas for the celebrations which continue till the New Year.

A senior police official said no untoward incident was reported during the celebrations.

"Police maintained strict vigil on the beaches. We had also rounded up anti-social elements ahead of the festivities,” he said.