The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) cleared more than 125 metric tonnes of garbage from Azad Maidan and its adjoining areas – where Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil was protesting for quota for five days as per a News 18 report. Azad Maidan was the ground zero of the Maratha reservation protest launched by activist Manoj Jarange. He began his indefinite fast on August 29 and called it off on Tuesday afternoon after the Maharashtra government accepted most of his demands.
His protest drew thousands of Maratha community members from across the state. The nearby (CSMT) and area around the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation headquarter building virtually became the camping sites of these protesters, many of whom were seen cooking, consuming food, sleeping and even bathing on pavements and roads.
All this generated large amounts of garbage at the protest site and the surrounding areas. Heaps of garbage, including leftover food items, mineral water bottles, wrappers, paper plates and cups were seen in the area. Talking to PTI, a senior BMC official said, "On the first day of the agitation on August 29, four metric tonnes of solid waste was collected from the ground, followed by seven metric tonnes the next day."
Thirty tonnes of garbage was collected on August 31 and September 1 each, and 57 tonnes - the highest during the protest - on September 2, he said. On September 1, BMC commissioner Bhushan Gagrani conducted a meeting with the Maratha quota activists over sanitation inside and outside the Azad Maidan.
A total of 466 civic staffers, including 438 labourers, 16 head supervisors, 11 supervisors and one assistant head supervisor, were involved in ensuring that the protest site and nearby areas remain clean, the official said. Three large and two mini compactors, 13 sewer cleaning vehicles (SCVs), one litter picker and four machines, including suction and jetting equipment vehicles, were deployed during the cleanliness drive, he added.
The civic body had provided more than 350 mobile toilets at three locations, including Azad Maidan, according to him. Another 61 permanent toilet seats in nearby locations such as Azad Maidan, Mahapalika Marg, MG Road, DN Road and near the High Court were also made functional, with a dedicated cleaning team deployed round the clock, the official said.