People throng tourist hotspots across the city on New Year

Kolkata: The city streets gleamed with lights and firecrackers as people welcomed New Year with great enthusiasm. Energy ran high as lakhs of people headed to their favourite spots across the city to enjoy the first day of the year.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on social media, wished everyone a happy new year and hoped that the year brings them joy, good health and prosperity. “Wishing you abundant joy, good health and prosperity in the coming year. May the days ahead be filled with happiness and success for you and your loved ones,” Banerjee wrote.

Several tourists thronged the Indian Museum. The historic artefacts and collections of the museum managed to enthrall people of all ages. Similarly, a large number of visitors thronged Victoria Memorial and Eco Park in New Town as well. Long queues were found outside the famous restaurants in the city as well, especially in the Park Street area. Resorts in Digha, Shankarpur and Mandarmani were fully booked.

On New Year, 84, 800 people visited Alipore Zoological Garden making it a record for the season. On New Year’s Eve, 70,177 people visited the zoo. Apart from the Zoological Garden, crowds were seen at Eco Park, Alipore Jail Museum and Wax Museum as well.

A total of 32,595 people visited Science City. Around 91,300 people visited Eco Park on Monday.

More than 50,000 people visited Eco Park and around 7,800 people visited Alipore Jail Museum on New Year’s Eve. The excitement ran high on Monday as well, as people with their carry bags stuffed with food and games visited Victoria Memorial to enjoy the winter sun.

Unlike Christmas, Metro did not run additional services on either Blue Line which connects Dakshineswar to Kavi Subhash or Green Line which connects Sealdah to Salt Lake Sector V. On Sunday, 130 services were plied in the Blue Line, while the Green Line was kept close as per its usual service hours.

During Christmas, Metro Railway had extended the service hours but no such extension was given on the New Year’s Eve or New Year. However, anticipating a rush, the authorities had put in place tight security at Esplanade, Park Street, Maidan, Rabindra Sadan and Dum Dum Metro stations to ensure no untoward incident took place.

Adequate women RPF officers and staff were deployed at Park Street Station to ensure safety and security of women and children.