Maddox Square in south Kolkata, which got turned into a plastic dump on Thursday morning with leftovers of a fair, was cleaned by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation on Friday morning but tell-tale scars of the event remained.
The Telegraph found three major black patches on the ground where, according to the locals, the plastic and leaves were burnt in the open.
This act was in complete violation of the prevailing environmental norms, particularly those in place during winter when the air quality level stands poor to very poor on average in the city.
Besides these black marks, the entire ground had innumerable holes that were dug for installing around 140 stalls at the fair that was organised by an event management company.
This newspaper reported on Friday how the entire ground was converted into a garbage heap after the eight-day fair concluded on Sunday.
“We have already cleared six vehicles full of garbage, mostly plastic, from Maddox Square. But we cannot do anything about the black burnt marks and the holes,” said a KMC official to The Telegraph on Friday morning.
“It’s good that the ground got cleared today itself, at least we do not have to walk through a plastic pile. Yesterday morning, it looked like we were walking through Dhapa without the smell,” said a morning walker.
On Thursday, another septuagenarian said that the morning walk had turned into a “mourning walk”.
“Firstly, it’s better if the civic body does not give permission to such commercial fairs. Even if they give, they must ensure that the ground gets cleared and restored immediately,” added another.
“We have got the ground cleared in the morning itself, and will restore the ground at the earliest, including filling up the dug-up pits,” said Debasish Kumar, the mayoral council member in charge of parks and gardens.
Officials of the parks and gardens department said that they would be more careful next time such fairs are organised. We always lay the conditions. But next time we will make sure that the organisers abide by them,” said an official.
“No comments,” said a representative of the event management organisation when asked about the violation.
According to sources, senior officials of the civic body are contemplating steps to be taken against the errant organisation.
Three injured in bike accidents
A motorcyclist was injured after his vehicle was hit by a private car on Baishnabghata Patuli EM Bypass connector on the southern fringes of Kolkata on Thursday night, police said. Manabendra Maity, a resident of Narendrapur, was treated and discharged from a hospital in Patuli.
The car was impounded by the police.
In another accident, a 40-year-old scooterist and his six-year-old son were injured when the vehicle skidded off the carriageway both of them fell on the road. Police said Animesh Singh and his son Arian, residents of Chetla, were treated and discharged from a hospital.