GUWAHATI, Jan 1 - The Citizenship (Amendment) Act-induced sociopolitical situation has made a visible impact on the New Year celebrations in the city.
Although a large number of people came out right from the morning and visited temples and other amusement places, yet, as stated by various sources, the footfalls were relatively less compared to last year.
According to an official source, around 10,762 footfalls of visitors were recorded today at the Assam State Zoo-cum-Botanical Garden, a prime destination of amusement for city dwellers. The Zoo authority today earned Rs 2,82,160 as revenue from the visitors. The source said that last year on the same day, more than 13,000 footfalls had been recorded at the Zoo.
On the first day of the New Year, a fall in the number of visitors was also reported from the Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra. According to an official source, till late evening, around 10,000 footfalls were recorded at the Kalakshetra, resulting in a collection of around Rs 2 lakh as revenue. The source said that last year, more than 20,000 people had visited the Kalakshetra and the Kalakshetra authority earned around Rs 5 lakh as revenue.
In the first part of the day, a very low footfall was seen at different parks, too, including the Nehru Park and Shraddhanjali Kanan. By the evening, the number of visitors increased, but as stated by the employees of these parks, the number was still less compared to last year.
But, at various temples located in different parts of the city, the footfall of devotees was not affected by the present situation. At the revered Kamakhya temple in particular, a large number of devotees reportedly stood in a queue right from the wee hours to pray for a good start to the New Year. At other places of worship like Sukreswar, Umananda, Ugratara and Basistha, too, a good number of devotees offered their prayers on the first day of the year. The Department of Inland Water Transport today arranged a special ferry for the visitors to the Umananda temple.
