Kolkata: People in the city ushered in 2020 through various celebrations with their friends and family. Kolkata denizens also took part in prayers, picnics and conducted trips to popular tourist spots.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday extended her New Year greetings to people and prayed for a new dawn and happiness, as revellers across the state ushered in 2020 with enthusiasm and fervour.
Taking to Twitter, she wrote, "May the #NewYear 2020 brings with it new hope, a new dawn and happiness for everyone. #HappyNewYear."
Celebrations went on in full swing across the state on the first day of the New Year.
Revellers from across the state soaked in the ambience at Eco Park and the Mother's Wax Museum in Rajarhat.
Some, however, preferred to stay away from the maddening crowd. Several groups went out on trips to Digha, Mandarmani to usher in the New Year while others
visited North Bengal to enjoy the beauty of the hills.
Merriment, picnics and social gatherings marked the first day of 2020. Many were seen queuing up outside Alipore Zoological Garden, Botanical Garden and several other amusement parks in the city, which have been specially decked up on the occasion.
Victoria Memorial, in the heart of the city, was chock-a-bloc with merrymakers, while picnickers were seen indulging in sundry games on the sprawling Maidan.
Hundreds made a beeline for Eco Park, Science City, Nicco Park and enjoyed the day through various celebrations.
Keeping in mind the sudden rise in the tourist influx, the state Transport department took steps to ply more buses to ferry the tourists to various destinations.
Additional buses were run at various tourist spots including Digha, Gadiara, Mayapur, Kamarpukur and Jayrambati. To meet the extreme rush at Kashipur Udyanbati, additional steamers were deployed to connect transit points at places like Dakshineswar, Belur Math, Kutighat and Babughat. Thousands visited the place to attend Kalapataru Utsav on January 1.
Many people visited different temples including Tarapith, Kalighat, Dakshineswar and Tarakeswar to start off their year with prayers. The security was beefed up at Dakshineswar. Followers of Ramakrishna Paramhansa gathered at the ancient Kali temple at Dakshineswar for the Kalpataru Utsav, which is celebrated on this day every year in memory of Ramakrishna Paramahansa.
People, mostly youngsters, joined late night parties on Park Street and other venues in the city, mostly in pubs and restaurants.
The state Transport department had planned it accordingly so that they do not face any inconvenience while returning home after attending the New Year celebrations. Additional buses were run by the department till midnight.
Taki Rajbari in North 24-Parganas, Adina Mosque in Malda's Pandua, Hajarduari Palace in Murshidabad also drew a large number of tourists on the New Year's Day. In many of these places people were found to be organising picnics as well.