Revellers hit the hotspots across the city on Christmas and in at least one place the turnout was more than what it was on Sunday.
The roads and pavements surrounding the Maidan, the Victoria Memorial and Birla Planetarium were teeming with people.
A man who drove to Chandni Chowk via Chowringee Road said the pavements were bustling with people. A large number of police personnel were also deployed on the road.
About 60,000 people visited Eco Park on Monday, more than the number of visitors on Sunday.
Nearly 8,000 people visited the Alipore Museum on Monday.
Visitors came from near and far, waited patiently in queues to enter some of the hotspots.
Rabi Halder came with his family to the Victoria Memorial from Nagerbazar. He had planned to visit a few other places in the city as well. “I had to wait in the queue to purchase tickets for nearly an hour,” he said.
Rajesh Mohta, a resident of Sarat Bose Road, came to the Maidan with his daughter Emily, who was enjoying a horse ride. Mohta said they wanted to spend some time in the sun. “We will go back home from here,” he said.
Somali and Tridip Talukdar came early to St Paul’s Cathedral from Garia. They missed St Paul’s last year as the church had closed by the time they reached. “We have plans to have lunch on Park Street,” said Tridip.
The Alipore zoo was one of the top draws among revellers. “We sold about 64,000 tickets on Monday, a little less than on Sunday. On both days we opened the gates 30 minutes before the usual 9am opening,” said Alipore zoo director Shubhankar Sengupta.
The Alipore Museum usually remains closed on Mondays. But keeping in mind the number of people who may want to visit the museum on December 25 and January 1 — both Monday — the authorities have decided to keep the place open on both days.
Many revellers also headed to the multiple fairs being held in other parts of the city. A young couple was headed to the trade fair at Science City ground.
New Town has become a hotspot on festive days over the last few years. The combined attraction of Eco Park, Harinalaya mini zoo, the aircraft museum and Mother’s Wax Museum drew thousands to the township.
Around 60,000 visitors from the city and its neighbouring districts visited Eco Park on Monday. On Christmas Eve, the footfall had crossed 40,000, said an official of Hidco, which manages the park.
Since Monday morning, there was a steady stream of traffic on Major Arterial Road headed to the sprawling 480-acre park with a 110-acre water body at its centre.
The crowd started to surge around midday and by 3.30pm, all the parking spots in the park were full.
Many vehicles that had ferried visitors to Eco Park had to park near Eco Urban Village, around 1.5km away.
Snaking queues were seen outside all the ticketing counters at the park. Officials of the park, security guards and cops had a trying time managing the crowds.
Inside, there was a sea of heads, many sported Santa caps. Many came dressed in red or wearing colourful goggles and reindeer glasses.Families were spotted having picnic lunches and playing games on the greens.
Suhashini Mukherjee who had gone in a group of 18 friends said they spent the entire day at Eco Park. “We had breakfast followed by a picnic lunch at the park . We then played several rounds of badminton and headed to the aircraft museum after this. We will wrap up the day with dinner on Park Street,” she said.
The crowd count at Nicco Park, one of the oldest amusement parks in the city, stood at around 5,500.
Here, mostly families with children were spotted enjoying the toy train or Moon Raker rides.
The park’s mascot Sheroo turned out to be quite a crowd-puller and many were seen clicking selfies with him.
The park’s food court did brisk business. The stalls outside that sell fast food, too, had a steady stream of customers since morning.
