The Alipore zoo is shut because of the surge in Covid cases. So is the Victoria Memorial. In the absence of places to go to, the Maidan greens are overflowing with winter revellers.
A visit to the Maidan on Sunday afternoon did not give the slightest hint that the third wave of Covid was raging.
It was like any other winter Sunday when thousands of people flocked the sprawling grounds to indulge in fun, frolic and merry-making.
Large groups were seated on the green cover. People were having lunch from tiffin boxes and plates. Many people, young and old, were playing badminton and cricket.
Many people were without masks. Many others had them hanging from their chins.
The part of the Maidan near the North gate of the Victoria Memorial on Queensway was chock-a-block around 1.30pm on Sunday.
A group of six women, one man and two children were seated on one corner of the ground. None of them wore a mask.
Around 50 metres away, a game of cricket was underway. Half a dozen young men were watching the game. None wore a mask.
A dozen people sat on a concrete base surrounding the roots of a tree. Most were without masks.
Hawkers selling everything from chocolates to papad dotted the Maidan, often without the face cover. Many of them sold their wares at the zoo or Victoria before these places were shut. All public attractions in Kolkata have been shut to check the rapid surge in Covid cases, driven by the omicron variant.
Holiday fun on the greens on Sunday
“Why should we answer you,” a woman barked when the photographer of this newspaper asked her the reason for not wearing a mask.
Two policemen standing near the North gate of the Victoria Memorial said they were “tired” of telling people to have their faces covered and avoid crowding.
“We feel suffocated inside the home. We have come to the Maidan for some fresh air. Wearing a mask and inhaling fresh air do not go together,” a cop recounted a man as saying.
More than one person defended visiting the crowded Maidan by saying there was no lockdown and people were free to go where they wanted to, said the cops.
A family from Howrah were busy munching on jhalmuri. “We had come to visit Victoria and the zoo. We did not know these places were shut,” said a member of the group.