Dense fog reduced visibility and caused major disruption in ferry services for Gangasagar-bound pilgrims from late Friday night.

The visibility was so poor even on Saturday morning that ferry services from Lot 8 at Kakdwip in South 24-Parganas had to be suspended till 9am from Friday 8pm, leading to delay in the arrival of pilgrims on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.

In a similar situation, ferry services remained suspended on the Namkhana-Benubon stretch till Saturday morning as were the bus services linked to them.

In Calcutta, a group of tourists who booked tickets for a cruise ride to Gangasagar, staged demonstrations early on Saturday morning at the Millennium Park ghat of the Hooghly river after operators informed them about the suspension of the journey amid heavy fog.

As a result of the dense fog, a few lakh Gangasagar-bound devotees remained stranded at various locations, including Calcutta. The worst affected area was Lot 8 ghat in Kakdwip where the South 24-Parganas district administration stopped the movement of vessels to avoid possible accidents.

“We arrived at Lot 8 ghat on Friday evening but heard that ferry services had been suspended. We have been waiting here for more than 10 hours and have no idea when would be able to reach Sagar”, said Ramesh Yadav, who came to take a holy dip at Gangasagar on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.

On Makar Sankranti, lakhs of pilgrims from across the country gather at Ganga Sagar every year for a holy dip. However, this time, the suspension of ferry service left many pilgrims apprehensive about reaching Sagar island on time for the holy dip.

“There was a forecast of fog.... But it continued for about 12 hours forcing us to suspend the movement of the vessels. The situation was beyond our control. The situation became normal after 9 in the morning,” an official of South 24-Parganas district administration said.

Sources in the district administration said on Friday night two vessels that left Lot 8 for Gangasagar lost route because of dense fog, triggering panic among senior officials. A team of NDRF eventually tracked them near Ghoramara island.

“The visibility dropped such alarmingly that navigation become difficult. Two vessels lost route and drifted towards Ghoramara. It was a difficult situation for us. Luckily, they could be tracked and re-routed towards Gangasagar,” Sagar BDO Sudipto Mondal said.

Insiders in the district administration said lack of knowledge about navigation in Sagar island created the problem.