Record turnout for U-17 World

Kolkata, Nov 1: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has congratulated people from different walks of life, from administration to police as well as the spectators for making the recently concluded Under-17 World Cup tournament a grand success. “ Kolkata achieves a unique position in the U-17 World Cup. Out of 13 lakh 47 thousand spectators in India who watched the U-17 matches in all the venues, Kolkata is the highest with 6 lakh 8 thousand watching it at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan. This is more than 45 per cent of the total spectator count. Next highest is Delhi with 19.78 per cent. The per match spectator average in India is 25,906, while in Kolkata it is 55, 345- more than double. It is all about our passion for football and the excellent arrangements at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan. My best wishes to all, ” she said in a tweet. It may be mentioned that FIFA officials who had visited Kolkata had praised the stadium and the infrastructure. Ms Banerjee took a personal interest and held a series of meetings with senior officials of different departments to make the U-17 World Cup a grand success. Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) had kept the area outside the stadium clean. The roadside gardens were decorated and roads were brightly illuminated. The police along with BMC specified the areas where the spectators could park their vehicles. State Transport department deployed special buses to ferry the spectators to the venue from the districts as well as from different important points in the city. After the matches were over, the department provided buses so that the spectators coming from the district could return home safely. There was heavy deployment of policemen outside the stadium and after the matches ended after 10 pm, the police guided the spectators to the respective areas from where the state-run buses left for different areas. Coordination among various government departments had made the event a grand success. UNI