After the grand spectacle: A massive clean-up

Sanitation workers toil through the night to clear Dasara waste

Mysuru: By early morning, the streets along Mysuru’s Rajamarga were clean again after Jumboo Savari, thanks to a night-long clean-up by Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) workers.

Lakhs of people had gathered in the city to watch Jumboo Savari and Torchlight Parade. Once the festivities were over, heaps of garbage were left behind on the streets.

The Palace premises, Chamaraja Wadiyar Circle, Albert Victor Road, K.R. Circle, Sayyaji Rao Road, RMC Circle and Bamboo Bazaar were among the places strewn with waste. The litter extended till Bannimantap.

Hundreds of civic workers collected garbage and cleaned the streets despite the foul smell from the waste. By dawn, the streets had been cleared.

Special teams were deployed at key locations to collect and dispose of the waste. MCC Health Department officials, sanitation supervisors and other staff coordinated the clean-up. Mobile toilets set up along the procession route were also cleaned and dismantled.

The MCC deployed an additional 300 staff along with the existing 1,861 cleanliness warriors to function in three shifts along with five sweeping machines. In addition, 329 autos, 69 tractors and 34 compactors were used to shift the garbage.

The MCC had put up 100 additional dustbins apart from the existing 100. At the Aahara Mela, 161.55 metric tonnes of waste was collected including 136.55 metric tonnes of wet food waste, 20.43 metric tonnes dry waste and 4.65 metric tonne empty bottles. While thousands came to watch the procession, civic workers stayed on streets through the night to clear the mess.

However, the effort of these workers is often undone by people who throw waste wherever they please. Such behaviour not only makes their job harder but also undermines the city’s efforts to maintain cleanliness.

Waste collection figures (Oct. 11 to 21)