Hawkers sell essentials for Pongal

Heaps of turmeric plants and sugarcane sticks decked at the roadside shops on the eve of Pongal, indicated the arrival of harvest festival.

At the vegetable market on South Mada Street, Mylapore hawkers were selling everything from thoranams and mango leaves to sugarcane and colour kolam powders for Pongal.

There was a steady stream of shoppers after 6 p.m.

Few police officers were also deployed at the junction of East Mada Street and South Mada Street to manage the crowd and regulate the traffic.