More than 200 waste cleaners of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) cleaned the venue of Trinamul’s Martyrs’ Day rally and areas around the Maidan by the evening on Friday, a little over two hours after the programme ended.
Movable compactor machines, mechanical sweepers and battery-operated vehicles were deployed for the clean-up. The movable compactors are used to transport the waste to the Dhapa waste dumping ground, while battery-operated small vehicles pick up waste from roads and grounds and put it inside compactors.
Debabrata Majumdar, mayoral council member in charge of the solid waste management department of the KMC, said the civic body cleaned the streets as well as the part of the Maidan where cars were parked.
“Because of the rain, our cleaners had some difficulties. Also, some vehicles were parked on the Maidan till evening. We will do a mop-up on Saturday morning,” said Majumdar, who is also Trinamul MLA from Jadavpur.
Trinamul supporters came in buses and cars, most of which were parked along JL Nehru Road, Queensway, Hastings and on the Maidan, among other places.
Sources in the KMC said that besides the Maidan and the rally venue, cleaners were deployed in several parts of the city as processions headed to the venue from many places.
The roads around the stadiums and the auditoriums where the supporters had stayed were also cleaned.
Many of the supporters who came to the rally ate their lunch sitting on a piece of cloth or a tarpaulin sheet on pavements, along roads or inside the green verges.
Many people were seen eating inside the green verges along Strand Road, near Prinsep Ghat. People were taking selfies standing in front of a replica aircraft and a fighter tanker.
The waste included food leftovers, paper packets, plastic bags, cups, plates and thermocol items, among others, said a KMC official. Some of the waste was carried into the interior of the Maidan by the wind.
The Telegraph found many small vehicles on the Brigade Parade Ground with multiple waste cleaners picking up plastic, paper plates and cups. They were sweeping through the grass to accumulate the waste in one place before picking it up.
Cleaners were also found working along Kidderpore Road, picking up waste from edges of the road. An iron rod, with an S-shaped hook attached to it, was used to pick up waste.
“We started working immediately after the rally ended and people dispersed,” said an official.