Eco Park sees footfall of nearly a lakh on Christmas

Kolkata: Christmas was celebrated in New Town with great enthusiasm, with nearly one lakh people visiting Eco Park.

Special arrangements were made at Eco Park so that the visitors can enjoy nature as well as the areas that have been developed. There were additional counters and toilet banks. There were nearly 100 special buses to take the visitors to the park from various destinations.

The entire area was under CCTV surveillance. A special road has been constructed to keep Biswa Bangla Sarani free for airport-bound traffic.

On Christmas eve, around 61,167 people visited Eco Park. It may be mentioned that over 90 lakh people have visited the urban park, the biggest of its kind in the country, since its inauguration in January 2013. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has named the park Prakriti Tirtha.

There were long queues near the seven wonders on Monday morning. On Saturday, 14,374 people visited it. The area is coming up as a star attraction where people can see miniature replicas of the seven wonders of the world.

The Mother's Wax Museum witnessed a heavy turnout. On Saturday, 3,264 people visited the place. New Town mela also attracted a huge crowd.

Eco Park stands on 480 acres of land and is surrounded by a water body covering 112 acres. People enjoyed cycling in the special area, particularly riding tandem bicycles, while many enjoyed boating. The foodies gathered at Café Ekante and houseboat restaurant to enjoy quality food. The Eco Urban village also attracted a crowd.

Situated in Kolkata's neighbourhood, Eco Park is coming up as the biggest tourist attraction for several reasons. The first being ample space to park vehicles and arrangement to enjoy sunshine and nature without hassle due to foolproof arrangement of New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA), police and state transport department.

There was not a single incident of eve teasing or misbehaviour. As cleanliness is the USP of Eco Park, a special cleaning drive was launched in the afternoon.

Senior officials of Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) were present to oversee the arrangements.