The record number of people who thronged the Parade Ground for the Dussehra celebration on Friday also generated a large quantity of garbage apart from the noise and air pollution created by burning of the effigies. After the celebration, the large quantity of garbage was left scattered on the ground in the heart of the city with the authorities concerned turning a blind eye.
Local students group Making a Difference by Being the Difference (MAD) took unto itself the task of cleaning up the ground over the course of the weekend. Young volunteers of the group collected and segregated the garbage generated by the crowd that thronged the fair. About 25 volunteers participated in the clean up that lasted for 6-7 hours over two days.
However, this endeavour by the group also revealed the negligence of the municipal corporation responsible for maintaining the cleanliness of the city through their complete absence on the first day of the clean up. Volunteers of the group said that even the heaps segregated by them for proper disposal were attempted to be burnt in the open.
Although the municipal corporation vehicles showed up on Sunday to collect the waste already cleared by the group of student volunteers, sheer laxity of the city administration was evident in the late response. The garbage mainly comprised plastics that have been banned by the High Court, which also raises questions at the implementation of the HC directives.
Apart from the clean up activity, the group also restored an earlier mural their volunteers had painted as a celebration of the spirit of Doon on a wall at EC Road, that had been defaced with bills put up by student union groups and defence coaching institutes. MAD has also sought action from the administration against such marring of public property and volunteers' efforts to beautify the city's landscape.
The clean up activity was attended by Karan Kapoor, Swati Singh, Aadarsh Tripathi, Utkarsh, Sanat, Archie Bisht, Ajoe, Prateeksha, Shardul Aswal, Mohit Arora and Sharad Maheshwari among others.
