An estimated 1.5 lakh visitors from the city and its suburbs thronged the Alipore Zoological Garden to celebrate the start of 2013.
The figure is more than double the total number of those who visited the zoo on Christmas.
“It was 67,000 visitors on that day. The average on Sundays in December was between 50,000 to 55,000. The total number for that month was about 70,000 more than that for the same period the preceding year” said K.L. Ghosh, Director of Alipore Zoological Garden. “Although we prepared our staff to provide sufficient assistance to the public visiting the zoo, crowd management proved difficult as such a huge turnout was not expected,” he added. The presence of police personnel was also substantial.
