Kolkata 'silver rush' disrupts traffic

A peaceful suburb of Kolkata witnessed a frenzied rush Tuesday with residents and passers-by seen squatting on the roadside in the Salt Lake area, groping for tiny silver-colour balls in the mud, with police doing their best to prevent a major traffic snarl.

As word spread about some "silver balls" in the road stretch from Indira Bhavan (late Jyoti Basu's official residence) to City Centre mall, more and more people joined the first few spotters on a Eid holiday.

Soon, the area was choc-a-bloc with people squatting, bending, standing and dragging out the balls, believing it to be silver. As cameras panned the scene, the lucky ones displayed their finds on their palms.

"We were mainly focusing on the traffic situation as people joined in when the presence of such objects spread through word of mouth. We think it is not real silver... just silver coloured balls. We are checking it out, verifying a sample," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bidhannagar, Debashish Dhar told IANS.

He said the traffic situation is clear now.