Lakhs join Martyr's Day event but no mess & traffic congestion

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Kolkata Police did a commendable job on Sunday by cleaning the heart of the city and managing of lakhs of Trinamool Congress supporters who came from various parts of the state to take part in Martyr's Day (Sahid Divas) programme at Esplanade.

The elaborate arrangements by the civic body's Solid Waste Management (SWM) department ensured that the road was restored to its normal state in terms of cleanliness in less than an hour after the programme concluded.

"We had deployed four mechanical sweepers and 10 mobile compactor machines. The usual garbage carrying hand carts and some battery-operated cleaning vehicles were also pressed into service for cleaning operation. There was 200 employees involved by our department for cleaning," Debabrata Majumder, Member Mayor in Council (SWM) said.

Pieces of paper, food packets, tea cups and various waste products were found strewn in the Esplanade area as people in large number from various parts of the state had gathered here during the programme.

Elaborate advance planning made by the civic body ensured prompt cleaning of waste products.

Kolkata Police was successful in keeping the roads free from congestion throughout the day with an elaborate advanced traffic plan and crowd management.

"It is a team effort. Everything was well-planned and our officials followed the instructions. The day was Sunday so vehicular movement in the city was not as much as it is witnessed on a regular day. There were hardly any problems. Citizens reached their destinations without any hassle," deputy commissioner of Traffic Pandey Santosh.

The police had planned to allow vehicles coming from districts to enter city from three areas. A specific route was earmarked for vehicles converging at the meeting venue. This was to ensure that the other roads did not get clogged by any means. Vehicles followed the earmarked route and traffic movement was absolutely normal. The entire area in and around the meeting venue was under the coverage of surveillance cameras ensuring that there were no untoward incidents.

The police had also taken precautionary steps to check spreading of rumours as lakhs of people had gathered in Esplanade and adjacent areas. Cops provided necessary guidance to people so that they could return home without facing any trouble.