123 Kolkata: With no concerted efforts to sweep the Maidan and remove tonnes of paper, plastic, and Styrofoam used by revellers and picnickers, the Maidan remains an eyesore. This was in contrast to the rest of the city, including adjoining Park Street and Cathedral Road, which glittered under the decorative lights installed to celebrate Christmas and usher in the New Year.
Though the state Public Works Department (PWD) is in charge of maintaining the Maidan, and Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) usually lends a hand in the herculean clean-up drive, both agencies assured that timely action would be taken to ensure that stretches of Maidan were cleaned up before Christmas. According to the state PWD secretary, Antara Acharya, the department noticed the littering issues at Maidan and was poised to take effective steps to clean up the mess.
"Every year, revellers from various parts of Kolkata and outside the city assemble at Maidan at the end of the year to spend leisurely hours. This year is no exception. We have noticed that parts of the Maidan are getting littered regularly. We have planned to engage an enhanced workforce to take care of the cleaning operation of Maidan," said Acharya. A KMC solid waste management department official said the civic body planned to keep large containers in different vantage parts of the sprawling Maidan. "We know during this time of the year we need to install many waste bins across the Maidan. We will start doing so in consultation with the state PWD department," said the civic official.
The absence of any access control at the Maidan, which is a boon to youths who play various sports on the green, also turns into a bane around the year-end with picnickers bringing in banned plastic poly bags and Styrofoam plates and glasses and then leaving them behind.
"It is a shame that citizens don't behave in a responsible manner when they leave the Maidan. And it is extremely sad that no govt agency is willing to care for one of the greatest natural assets the city possesses," said green activist Subhas Datta, whose public interest litigation on the Maidan led to several high court orders, including a ban on any fire-related activity at the Maidan.
In Dec 2020, Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Arijit Banerjee passed a suo motu order on the cleanup of rubbish and litter on the Maidan, as well as a prohibition on parking.
A TOI survey on the Maidan on Saturday afternoon revealed that there were men offering services of riding a horse and games like shooting a balloon from a distance. When asked how often the Maidan is cleaned, they said these clearing sessions are not periodic, but it hardly takes a day for tourists to restore the filth back to the ground. One vendor estimated that over 2,000 people visit the ground every day. In a conversation with a citizen wandering the field and asking about their opinion on littering the Maidan, he said, "Maidan is an emotion for us Kolkatans," and elaborated that it must not be exploited by citizens.