As a sea of humanity turned up at Mumbai's iconic Marine Drive promenade to give a hero's welcome to the T20 World Cup-winning Indian team, this multitude also left behind loads of trash, including water bottles and footwear, that was later collected by the civic body in seven vehicles.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Friday that the cleanliness drive continued all through the intervening night of Thursday and Friday following the victory parade.
Thousands of fans thronged Marine Drive in south Mumbai on Thursday evening to witness the Indian cricket team's victory parade. The open bus parade started from the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) at Nariman Point after 7:30 pm and ended at Wankhede Stadium.
Although it usually takes five minutes to cover the distance between these two points, it took more than one-and-a-half hours for the parade to do so due to the large gathering. The huge congregation also left behind piles of trash as footwear and water bottles were seen lying scattered on the stretch of road from where the victory parade passed.
In a release, the BMC said that along with a large number of wrappers of food items and water bottles, a huge quantity of shoes and slippers, among other things, were collected during the cleanliness drive. Of the total trash, shoes and chappals were collected in as many as five jeeps, it said, adding that two dumpers were also used to lift the garbage from the spot.
Instead of sending this junk to the dumping ground, all these items will be sent to recycling plants, the civic body added. The cleanliness drive started at 11.30 pm on Thursday and ended at 8 am on Friday.
It said that 100 staffers of the civic solid waste management department and workers of some NGOs took part in it. This operation made a neat and clean Marine Drive promenade available to people, as scores of them use this spot for morning walks and exercising.
During the victory parade, the Mumbai Police also made elaborate security arrangements between Marine Drive and Wankhede Stadium to avoid any untoward incident.
At least 11 people were rushed to hospitals after sustaining minor injuries or feeling dizzy due to massive crowding along the route of the victory parade.
