Summary:
The surge had begun from Chaturthi, a Saturday, and as the rain eased off, revellers thronged the city streets from early Sunday morning. KOLKATA: An extended pre-Puja weekend and a dry Sunday, despite rain threats, brought lakhs of revellers out on a pandal-hopping spree on Panchami, rivalling the footfall usually recorded on Saptami or Ashtami. Since Saturday, we have received more than double the number of visitors we had during this time last year. All the bylanes were blocked by parked cars and the thoroughfare was choking with traffic,” said Sujata Dasgupta, a resident of Maniktala. Traffic on stretches like NSC Bose Road, MG Road and CR Avenue, which had been choking under pressure since Friday night, was a lot smoother on Sunday..