Kolkatans throng Park Street on Christmas Eve as Yuletide spirit rushes over city

Kolkata: With Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurating the Christmas Festival on December 16, people have already started thronging Park Street, which has become the hottest destination for people in the city.

On Christmas Eve, the entire stretch of Park Street was decked up with lighting arrangements and witnessed

a huge rush of revellers.

The festival was thrown open to the public after Banerjee inaugurated it at Allen Park last week.

Meanwhile, Kolkata Police has geared up to secure the city, especially Park Street and other crowded places. Several roads will be made 'No Entry' zones from 4 pm on December 25 and 26. From December 27, entire Park Street will be made a 'No Entry' zone if necessary.

According to police, all the night clubs, bars and hotels in the area will be kept under strict vigil. Approximately five thousand police personnel have been deputed in the

city to avoid any untoward incident.

Police personnel in uniform and plain clothes will monitor the shopping malls and Metro stations across the city, while 21 divisional mobile vans will be patrolling the city round-the-clock.

Apart from this, 13 Quick Response Teams (QRT) and 14 Heavy Radio Flying Squads (HRFS) vans will be posted at strategic points in the city to prevent any untoward incident during the festive season.

Two QRTs will be there in and around Park Street. To maintain strict vigil in the area, 11 watchtowers have also been installed in and around the area.

Sources informed that Park Street has been divided in four sectors. Five senior police officials of Deputy Commissioner (DC) rank will be posted at Park Street, who would supervise the forces from time to time. Apart from this, DC Reserve Force and DC Wireless will be in charge of overall management on December 25.

This apart, Kolkata Police will conduct 'block chain' raids across the city in order to put a leash on errant bikers and drivers, while teams from Detective Department (DD) and an Anti Rowdy Squad (ARS) will be posted for drunken driving checks.

The Disaster Management Group (DMG) team will also be on standby, in case of urgent intervention. The all-women Winners team will also be patrolling to ensure safety and security of women across the city.