Kolkata: The state Public Works Department (PWD) has decided to deploy more manpower to clear the litter that has piled up in the Maidan but also appealed to revellers and picnickers to tidy the grounds while leaving to maintain the sanctity of the city’s largest patch of green. Sources said Kolkata Municipal Corporation is considering lending a hand to the clean-up efforts.
Speaking to TOI, PWD secretary Antara Acharya said the team that was deployed to sweep the Maidan was still working but might have drowned by the sea of litter that was left behind every evening by revellers.Thousands descend on the Maidan in the afternoon and evening during the winter holidays to eat and make merry while basking in the sun.
“The teams that sweep the Maidan have been working daily. If need be, we will also increase the workforce. Generally during this time of the year waste that is generated is huge. We will definitely look at further augmenting the manpower to clean the Maidan as a department responsible for keeping Maidan clean. We request people who come to enjoy the Maidan to also keep grounds free of litter,” Acharya said.
According to a state PWD department official, the sweepers engaged by the department have been at work to remove mounds of garbage and dump them at the trash bins that have been kept at the Maidan by the KMC. However, the official conceded that though the strength of the workforce was being increased in phases, given the number of visitors in the year end, the number was grossly inadequate.
“Our workers on duty at the Maidan collect huge amounts of waste every morning and dump them at the KMC trash bins. But we don’t have the strength to collect garbage again in the late afternoon when the visitors in large numbers assemble at the Maidan and have food sitting on the lush green,” said the state PWD official.
Over the past four days, TOI has been highlighting the sorry state of the Maidan and how Kolkata’s lungs have been choked by plastic, styrofoam and paper waste left behind by revellers.
Following the reports, environment activist Subhas Datta spoke to Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) commissioner Binod Kumar On Thursday and inquired why the civic body had not joined in the clean-up efforts, citing the 2007 Calcutta High Court Green Bench order that had fixed the responsibility of the regular cleaning on KMC.
Sources said the KMC commissioner took up the matter with senior civic officials and impressed upon them the need to join the clean-up operation. However, a KMC official said no formal request had reached the civic headquarters from the state PWD for cooperating with it in the Maidan clean-up. “We are ready to extend our support in the clean-up drive if we receive a formal request from the state PWD that is in-charge of maintenance of Maidan,” said the civic official.
On Friday, a portion of the Maidan was cleaned up and garbage piled up to be cleared by trucks.
Speaking to TOI, PWD secretary Antara Acharya said the team that was deployed to sweep the Maidan was still working but might have drowned by the sea of litter that was left behind every evening by revellers.Thousands descend on the Maidan in the afternoon and evening during the winter holidays to eat and make merry while basking in the sun.
“The teams that sweep the Maidan have been working daily. If need be, we will also increase the workforce. Generally during this time of the year waste that is generated is huge. We will definitely look at further augmenting the manpower to clean the Maidan as a department responsible for keeping Maidan clean. We request people who come to enjoy the Maidan to also keep grounds free of litter,” Acharya said.
According to a state PWD department official, the sweepers engaged by the department have been at work to remove mounds of garbage and dump them at the trash bins that have been kept at the Maidan by the KMC. However, the official conceded that though the strength of the workforce was being increased in phases, given the number of visitors in the year end, the number was grossly inadequate.
“Our workers on duty at the Maidan collect huge amounts of waste every morning and dump them at the KMC trash bins. But we don’t have the strength to collect garbage again in the late afternoon when the visitors in large numbers assemble at the Maidan and have food sitting on the lush green,” said the state PWD official.
Over the past four days, TOI has been highlighting the sorry state of the Maidan and how Kolkata’s lungs have been choked by plastic, styrofoam and paper waste left behind by revellers.
Following the reports, environment activist Subhas Datta spoke to Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) commissioner Binod Kumar On Thursday and inquired why the civic body had not joined in the clean-up efforts, citing the 2007 Calcutta High Court Green Bench order that had fixed the responsibility of the regular cleaning on KMC.
Sources said the KMC commissioner took up the matter with senior civic officials and impressed upon them the need to join the clean-up operation. However, a KMC official said no formal request had reached the civic headquarters from the state PWD for cooperating with it in the Maidan clean-up. “We are ready to extend our support in the clean-up drive if we receive a formal request from the state PWD that is in-charge of maintenance of Maidan,” said the civic official.
On Friday, a portion of the Maidan was cleaned up and garbage piled up to be cleared by trucks.