Thousands of people thronged shops selling clothes, sweets and fireworks on the Sunday before Diwali festival.
Hundreds of policemen were deployed in the city as a precautionary measure.
Chinna Kadahi Veethi, First and Second Agraharam, Four Road and Five Road were all crowded since Sunday morning. The city police have put up a makeshift tower in the Salem city area to keep an eye on the movements of the people. Temporary clothing shops were opened on the streets in the main areas.
Town police officials said that they also installed CCTV cameras in the area and kept a watch on the movement from there. To avoid traffic congestion, vehicles were diverted to various roads across the city, and only two-wheelers were allowed.
Officials said that since the shops would remain open throughout the night on Sunday, police patrolling would continue.
Most of the sweet and cracker shops in Salem Town, Old Bus Stand, New Bus Stand and Alagapuram were crowded.
R Ranganathan, a wholesale firecracker dealer in Chinna Tirupati, said the prices of firecrackers have increased by 40% this year as compared to last year. However, this did not reduce sales.
The operation of special buses led to traffic jams in the Salem New Bus Stand area and the traffic police cleared the stretch by diverting vehicles to alternate routes at regular intervals.