Sept. 25: Kalighat Metro station today recorded more than 70,000 footfall, forcing the authorities to barricade the platform and mezzanine floors to tackle the chaos expected over the next five days of the Puja.
The station is the nearest to several big-ticket Pujas - Suruchi Sangha, Chetla Agrani, Deshapriya Park, Tridhara, Badamtala, Ekdalia and Singhi Park.
The city's transport lifeline had yesterday ferried around 7.6 lakh passengers. This evening, Metro officials said, the count might cross 8 lakh.
The rush prompted the authorities to run extra trains after the departure of the scheduled last trains from the terminal stations at 9.55pm.
Kalighat appeared to be the most crowded - and consequently the most chaotic - station during the day. The official figure of the passenger turnout was not available till late in the night but station officials pegged the figure at 70,000-plus.
Around 6.15pm, the station resembled a packed Eden Gardens after an India-Pakistan ODI.
A part of the platform right below the stairs on the southern side of the station was barricaded with ropes. "This is a safety measure. Hundreds of people tend to climb down the stairs and take the first left or right to board the train," said an RPF constable deployed there.
The mezzanine floors were barricaded with ropes, like previous years. Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel deployed at the ticket counters struggled to manage the serpentine queues.
As the footfall surged in the second half of the day, three gates of the southern flank - Dena Bank, Lake Market and Pratapaditya Road - were only used as entry points. The gate leading to SP Mukherjee Road was the lone exit point.
Scores of policemen and Metro personnel were deployed across the station for crowd control. But every time a train entered the station, madness descended on the platform.
Each compartment of an incoming train was packed beyond capacity but that hardly prevented hundreds from fighting their way in as soon as the gates opened.
Anandi Saha, 24, lost her handbag in the rush. "I boarded a packed train at Central. At Kalighat, I somehow managed to push my way out. But as the train was leaving the station, I realised that my bag was missing," recounted the Jadavpur resident, who was out pandal-hopping with her friends.
Every now and then, a gate would not close and an RPF constable had to push passengers in or drag them out.
At the ticket counters and on the platform, cops used hailers to guide passengers towards the exit gate.
Metro general manager Vishwesh Chaubey visited the station in the afternoon to oversee the crowd-control measures. "He has directed that all the counters should be operational and frequent announcements be made to inform the passengers about the changes in entry and exit points," Metro spokesperson Indrani Banerjee said.
Paper tickets, instead of tokens, will be issued from Saptami to Dashami.
Admission rap
The Calcutta University syndicate today decided to serve showcause notices to 24 colleges for admitting students in excess of their approved capacity. Sources said 319 students had been admitted in excess of capacity.
