The seat of the junior doctors’ protest at Esplanade for the past 17 days was back to being a road on Tuesday.

Vehicles were plying through the stretch of the Dorina Crossing that had cots and beddings and hundreds of people milling around till Monday.

The cots, banners, a clay installation representing the 31-year-old doctor who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, balloons and white boards where the health parameters of the fasting doctors would be updated every day, were all taken off.

The ambulance that used to be parked right next to the dais opposite Metro cinema had also left.

Barring a few workers in the morning who took apart the bamboo structure and the tarpaulin sheets, there was nobody at the protest site on Tuesday, where the air would reverberate with slogans at regular intervals.

Till Monday, scores of people would drop by at the protest site, where they would lend their voice to slogans, sing and paint on the road. Every evening, their numbers would swell.

At 9.45pm on Monday, the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front announced that they were withdrawing their hunger strike, which started on October 5.

The complete shutdown of healthcare facilities at government and private hospitals, which was scheduled for Tuesday, was also called off.

The decision was announced after a 17-member team of junior doctors met chief minister Mamata Banerjee and other senior officials of the state administration at Nabanna for two hours and 10 minutes. At the meeting, the government tried to respond to several of the doctors’ demands while rejecting some of them.

The doctors cited an appeal by the parents of the raped and murdered doctor while announcing their decision.

Among the eight junior doctors who were fasting, Arnab Mukherjee was taken to SSKM Hospital, while Snigdha Hazra, Sayantani Ghosh Hazra and Alolika Ghorui were taken to Medical College Kolkata.

Parichay Panda was taken to Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratisthan. Rumelika Kumar is under observation at home.

“Snigdha is on a liquid diet. Her blood sugar level is low and her ketone body count stands at 3+. She is being treated in the high dependency unit (HDU),” said one junior doctor.

“Sayantani and Alolika are in the critical care unit. They are quite weak. They are responding to medicines and are under treatment,” said an official at Medical College Kolkata, where an eight-member board of doctors has been formed for their treatment.

An official at SSKM said Mukherjee’s ketone levels were high and he was under medication. “He is extremely weak and has a ketone body count of 3+,” said the official.

A high ketone body count is an indication that the body is burning fat and muscle tissues to generate fuel, the official said.

Panda is stable at Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratisthan.

“I am feeling weak and nauseous. Other than that, my parameters are stable. I have been advised rest,” Kumar said.

At the protest on Tuesday evening, there was still a series of graffiti made with spray paint bearing messages such as “Bichar kothay (Where is justice)” and “Justice delayed is justice denied”.

Vehicles headed towards Central Avenue from Esplanade were spotted moving freely towards Chowringhee Square and subsequently on to Central Avenue. Guard rails that had been set up to cordon off the protest site have been removed by the police.

Mohammed Azad, a hawker who runs a stall that sells water bottles, cold drinks and chips, said his sales had taken a hit since Monday night.

“My sales had spiked after the doctors set up their dais here…. In the evenings I rarely had time to talk to anyone as I would be busy attending to customers. I had even stocked up on bottled water as many who would come to visit the doctors here would come to my stall regularly for water or cold drinks. Today my business hasn’t been half as good as compared to any other evening last week,” said Azad.

At the tea stall next to Azad’s stall, opposite Esplanade Metro station, many were heard discussing the outcome of the doctors’ protest.

Among them was Nipesh Bhattacharya, a resident of Konnagar, who had dropped by to take a look at the protest site.

“I had been coming here every evening and would spend hours here to show my solidarity with the doctors after finishing my work. Today the entire place looks very different from what we had got used to seeing,” said Bhattacharya.

Aniket Mahata, a prominent face of the doctors’ protest, told this newspaper on Tuesday that even as they had cleared off the protest site, it would forever remain etched in the memory of everyone in Bengal.

“The amount of love and support we received from people from all walks of life when we were protesting, at the Dorina Crossing as well as in front of Swasthya Bhavan, was unparalleled and we will continue to receive this kind of support,” he said.

“The site may look different but we, along with the people of Bengal, are steadfast in our demand for justice for our young colleague who was raped and murdered in the most heinous way possible. Till everyone, including all the perpetrators and those involved institutionally in trying to cover it up, is punished and a safe and secure environment for healthcare professionals and patients is established at all government healthcare facilities, our movement will continue,” Mahata said.

The junior doctors have given a call for a mass convention at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Saturday.