Maddox Square, a patch of green in south Kolkata’s Ballygunge where hundreds of morning walkers go, turned into a plastic dump on Thursday.
Innumerable plastic wrappers, thin carry bags and sheets remained spread all over the park, leftover from a fair that concluded recently.
Local people and green activists condemned the incident and demanded action against the organisers.
“The morning walk has turned into a mourning walk. How can the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) allow this?” asked a septuagenarian.
“I walk here regularly every morning for the past 20 years. The only break was forced by the lockdown, but today I could not walk because one cannot move through a garbage dump,” said a woman, who lives nearby.
Mayor Firhad Hakim has recently admitted not being able to contain plastic pollution as a failure during his ongoing tenure.
“I will take action against the organisers of the fair. Those who have given permission should have also seen that such violation does not occur, “ he said on Thursday.
The Telegraph found that apart from being spread all over the park, some plastic or other materials were burnt within the park, with tell-tale black patches visible.
“I have heard about the development, and am looking into it,” said Debasish Kumar, the mayoral council member in charge of parks and gardens. Local councillor Dilip Bose said he was out of the city and admitted receiving “complaints” from local residents.
Abir Saha, one of the directors of the event management company that organised the eight-day fair, said: “The fair ended on Sunday. We told KMC that we would clean it up within a week.”
When told that even Brigade Parade Ground gets cleared within a day of mammoth meetings, Saha said they would require “a few days” to clean up Maddox Square.
“It’s shocking. I will definitely raise the issue in the green tribunal and demand penal action against the organisers,” said environment activist Subhas Datta.
The permissible limit of plastic carry bags has increased many times over the last decade, rising from 40 microns in 2016 to 75 microns now. It is slated to further rise to 120 microns from December 31. But extremely thin illegal plastic bags can be found everywhere.