123 Kolkata: After lying littered with mounds of waste — both plastic and paper — for the past three days, vast stretches of Maidan were finally cleaned up on Thursday afternoon.
Sources in the state public works department (PWD) said a special drive was conducted in the morning and afternoon to clean stretches of Maidan used by revellers. "We deployed additional manpower to handle the waste accumulating on stretches of Maidan. We are not complacent. We know we have to keep teams of cleaners ready for the year-end bash. We are keeping an eye on the condition of the lungs of the city," a PWD official said.
A Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) solid waste management department official said the department would keep trash bins ready. "These will be set up at some of the vantage points of the Maidan so that the team of cleaners engaged by the PWD can access them and expedite the operation," the official said.
Priyangshu Bhowmick, a student from Sodepur who came to Maidan with his friends on Thursday, felt he was lucky to get a clean Maidan. "I have been coming here around Christmas for the past 10 years and have never found Maidan so clean," Bhowmick said. Soumili Das, a college student from Batanagar, was delighted to find a clean Maidan, too. However, she rued that not many garbage bins could be seen on large stretches of Maidan, which could have helped her and her friend throw the waste after they had had their snacks. Instead, they had to take the trash with them when they left. "Unlike previous years, I did not find trash bins in large numbers. I would like to request the state govt and the KMC to keep an adequate number of bins to ensure that visitors get access to them," she said.
While the army is the custodian of the Maidan, the state PWD is responsible for cleaning, and the KMC provides infrastructure to the state agency.
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