Season’s 1st shopper surge brings pedestrian channels back on road
Times of India | 23 September 2024
123 Kolkata: A sudden surge of shoppers — for the first time this festive season — on Saturday led cops in central Kolkata to put up pedestrian channels in the heart of central Kolkata.
According to police, they had to remove some parking around Chowringhee to set up pedestrian channels between Dorina Crossing and Lindsay Street and allow easier crossovers from the Bidhan Market side towards New Market.The cops set up two boom barriers near Humayun Place to control access to the area. A separate taxi bay was also created around Lindsay Street.
However, cops are yet to remove parking from near Grand Hotel or the Park street flyover. “If need be, we will introduce more pedestrian-friendly measures from Sunday. Though the numbers have taken a sudden surge, it is still to match the actual pre-puja footfall of the past years,” said an officer from Lalbazar. However, the police headquarters has sent an SOS to traffic and local police to prepare for a surge in the coming days.
The cops stated that they were witnessing 15-25 people crossing over for each signal cycle at the Lindsay Street-JL Nehru crossing for the past one month. On Saturday, this went up to 60-70 between 4 pm and 6 pm before settling between 30-40 late in the evening. During the peak pre-puja festival weeks in the previous non-Covid years, the numbers hovered around 100-110, said local cops.
Three things — the rain holding up, the absence of any major mass programme and the increase of holding area inside New Market — contributed to the sudden surge.
Similar surges were witnessed across Hatibagan, Gariahat and Burrabazar on Saturday with cops bringing about changes in the signal cycle to allow shoppers to cross over with ease and stop them from spilling over onto the main thoroughfare. At Gariahat, apparel store owner Ranjit Das was ecstatic over the turnaround this week. “Till last week, footfall was a third of what I had witnessed a month ahead of Durga Puja in previous years. Sales were poor. Since last week, footfall and sales are seeing a decent rise. On Saturday, I sold more than I did during the corresponding period last year,” said Das.
At New Market, the crowd felt that something was “still missing”. “Enthusiasm is low this year. Each year, I come along with all my family members. Today, I have come alone and will leave after buying only a few basic items. We have taken a decision not to buy new clothes for the extended family this year,” said Bidita Saha of Tollygunge.