Pune: Night curfew, travel restrictions and social distancing norms dampened the New Year celebrations in Pune. With night curfew already imposed by the state government it affected low footfall at Pune city's party hotspots.

Most of the Punekars opted to celebrate the New Year parties at home amid the COVID-19 scare. Prominent party spots such as MG Road, FC Road, JM Road too witnessed low crowd. Every year thousands of people throng to these locations to welcome the New Year.

One of the owners of restaurants in the city said, "The night curfew has affected the footfall and many people prefferred the online delivery. Every year, December 31 is one of the days where we generate huge revenue but amid night curfew the restaurant and food sector has been badly affected."

The major roads also witnessed nearly a deserted look as even the youths preffered for house parties. Tejas Poojari says, "Due to restrictions and COVID-19 spread, we chose to celebrate the New Year at home with limited guests."

Also, many opted for virtual parties via video conferencing apps. Puneties also enjoyed some good grub accompanied by funny anecdotes and got the house in splits of laughter when the minute hand ticked to 12.

This is how Punekars brought down the curtains to the year 2020. It was imperative that people did not let their guard down and continued wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing.