Christmas, in Kolkata, has never been about one particular religion. The city showed it on Wednesday night when thousands of revellers hit Park Street to celebrate Christmas without regard to religious identities. While having ice cream at Park Street, homemaker Shilpa Maheta. who had come with her two kids said, “Christmas is about plum cakes from a Jewish bakery, a suckling pig roasting on the green lawns of one of the city’s starchy clubs and attending the midnight mass at St Paul’s Cathedral.”

“Hindu, Muslims, Christians and people of other religions are enjoying the festive ambience that the city offers which boost the Christmas vibe every evening during the Christmas week.” said a policeman outside the Allen Park. “Every year we put up these stalls a week before Christmas. During the Christmas week there is a huge rush around these stalls. We feel very overwhelmed and excited to serve the crowds,” said Wahab while selling ecofriendly utensils to a group of college students in front of the Hard Rock cafe.

From toddlers to the elderly, people of all age groups could be seen admiring the beautiful lights, Christmas music and of course capturing the memories. Not just Park Street, places like Eco Park, Allipore zoo, Nicco Park, Maidan, Cathedral Church received a huge footfall. With the city in the grip of the festive mood, the state transport department has started additional buses to take care of the festive rush. Around 150 additional buses were plying from Eco Park while 50 buses were arranged around Park Street.

Metro authorities earlier said a huge rush of commuters is expected in Metro stations especially at Esplanade, Park Street and Maidan in view of Christmas. In order to manage this expected huge rush especially between 2:00 p.m. to till midnight on Christmas, 50 additional RPF security personnel including officers will be deployed at Esplanade, Park Street and Maidan stations for better crowd management and to ensure hassle- free journeys for the commuters.

A special team consisting of one officer and four staff will remain present at Esplanade and Maidan stations. Two special RPF teams of the same strength will be present at Park Street Metro station. Amidst all of these, arrangements for smooth pedestrian movement have been made by Kolkata Police. Alongside two Quick Response Teams (QRTs) and 11 watch towers, Kolkata Police has also installed 20 extra CCTV cameras especially to ensure the safety of celebrants.

Special ‘Winners’ teams made up of women personnel were deployed for women’s safety.