Park Street had to be closed to traffic for around two hours on Christmas evening after the number of pedestrians on the “party street” suddenly surged, leaving no space for vehicles.

Thousands of people — young and old — went to Park Street to see the lights and soak in the festive mood, rare in a year reigned by the pandemic, throwing traffic out of gear.

As Park Street became out of bounds for vehicles following the crowd surge, traffic stalled on Chowringhee Road. South-bound traffic had to be diverted through Outram Road, Ho-Chi Minh Sarani and Camac Street.

The ripple effect stretched to Esplanade, Red Road and the Park Circus seven-point crossing as hundreds of vehicles had to be diverted in different directions.

Fewer people compared with previous years visited Park Street on Christmas Eve, possibly because of the pandemic, leading police to guess that the footfall would be low on Christmas evening, too.

As planned by the administration, the lights and decorations were scaled down this year and no food stalls were allowed on footpaths to discourage people from visiting Park Street. However, all expectations were proved wrong as thousands descended on the 1.5km stretch, resulting in a gathering the city has not witnessed since the Covid outbreak in March.

Senior officers said that although they had a back-up plan, they did not think it would have to be enforced because of the pandemic.

“There were families with children, there were couples and aged people, too. Despite our repeated announcements to wear masks and keep walking, most of them were removing face coverings to click pictures. Many were also queuing outside bars and restaurants,” said an officer of Shakespeare Sarani police station, who was posted on Park Street on Friday.

A senior police officer said the sudden surge of people forced them to prevent vehicles from entering Park Street. “There was no option. There was hardly any space for vehicles to move,” the officer said.

Park Street was split into two flanks for pedestrians to move in either direction.

In the last few years, the party corridor — between the Chowringhee Road crossing on one side and the Wood Street intersection on the other — would be closed to vehicles on Christmas Eve and Christmas evening. The road would be reserved for pedestrians on the two occasions.

“This year there was no such formal plan to discourage revellers from thronging Park Street,” an officer said.

Many who went to Park Street said they had not stepped out with family even during Durga Puja.

“This is the last festival of the year. My kids were really excited. We did not step out even during Durga Puja. I thought it would not cause any harm if we followed all Covid norms and spent some time on Park Street. I have asked my children not to touch anything,” said Ishan Ghosh, a resident of Thakurpukur.

“From 7.30pm, we started to push the crowd on either side of the road and make way for vehicles. By 8pm, Park Street was clear for vehicles. The crowd had also thinned by then,” said an officer of Park Street police station.

Traffic movement on and around Park Street became normal by 9pm, the police said.

Elsewhere Christmas celebrations were muted across many of the city’s usual holiday hotspots because of Covid.

From Victoria Memorial in the heart of the city to Eco Park in New Town, there were much less revellers compared with previous years.

The familiar sight of families enjoying picnic at Alipore zoo, the Maidan and Eco Park was missing. “We are just here for an outing. We won’t have food outdoors as the virus is still around and the risk of contracting it is still very much real,” said Sharmila Chakraborty at Eco Park.

At Nicco Park, the few revellers who had turned up were happy that they did not have to wait to board a ride. Park officials failed to recall the last time the footfall was so low on Christmas.

“Today’s footfall was 5,000. On Christmas last year, the footfall had been 15,000,” an official of the park said.

Alipore zoo had around 30,000 visitors on Friday, down from 68,000 on Christmas 2019.

“Not a single group has hired me for a ride till now today,” Mohammad Shamim, whose horse carriage takes revellers around Victoria Memorial, said on Friday afternoon. “Last year by this time I had taken at least 10 groups on joy rides.”

Additional reporting by Snehal Sengupta