Within 45 mins of award ceremony, Transport dept sends fans back home

Kolkata: Believe it or not. Bringing about a complete change from the past scenario, the state government has made it possible to provide transport facilities to all spectators at Swami Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan to return home within just 45 minutes of the prize distribution ceremony after the final match of the FIFA Under-17 Football World Cup was over on Saturday night.

The role of the state Transport department has been appreciated by around 66,000 spectators as the bus services were ensured from in front of the stadium soon after they came out and people didn't have to wait or walk for long distances, as has been the custom, to get a mode of transport to reach home at around 10.30 at night.

It may be recalled that earlier, after any big match at the stadium, people had to walk at least up to Ultadanga to get a bus or any other mode of transport to go back home. People had to come in mini-trucks or matadors to watch the match so that they didn't have to worry about getting a transport back home. It had been a common practice during the Left Front regime.

After the change of guard in the state, the transport sector has witnessed complete revamp and extra effort by the state Transport department following directions from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has ensured safe, secure and timely services from the doorstep of the stadium itself.

Alapan Bandyopadhyay, Additional Chief Secretary of the state Transport department, said: "Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had directed us for international standard arrangements and under the leadership of Transport minister Suvendu Adhikari, the department has been able to deliver it."

According to an official of the West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC), they had identified the side from where the crowd flow was more on those six days when the other World Cup matches were held at the stadium and identified the points where there was more demand for buses on the day of the summit clash. Based on their plan, buses were parked at the respective locations near the stadium which made mobilisation of buses easier, helping the spectators get the transport without any delay.

Apart from the 100 shuttle buses that ferried spectators from the stadium to the nearest points at Ultadanga and Milan Mela, there were 200 additional buses that plied from the stadium itself to take people to their respective destinations.

More than 600 buses were pressed into service by the state government on the day of the final match and it also included buses to provide transport facility to college and school goers, who came to watch the match.

Senior officials, who were on-duty at different locations, had been constantly monitoring the situation as spectators started coming out of the stadium in phases. A small number of the huge crowd started moving out soon after the match was over while the maximum of them came out after the award ceremony. Buses were being pressed accordingly in proper co-ordination with both Bidhannagar City Police and Kolkata Police. While monitoring the situation to assess whether there was need to press extra additional buses, the officials found that they had managed to provide public transport to most of the spectators within 45 minutes of the event.

Earlier, during the Left Front regime, there used to be gathering of spectators at different places near the stadium on Eastern Metropolitan Bypass to get a bus or some means of transport to return home at night. But the transport officials found nothing as such on Saturday night.