Several thousands who had come to watch the swearing-in ceremony from the sands of the Marina on Saturday left behind a trail of garbage along the beach and on roads leading to the University of Madras.
Workers engaged by Chennai Corporation were on duty from early on Saturday and sweated it out throughout the day. Mounds of empty water sachets, plastic and newspaper sheets, half-eaten food parcels, groundnut kernels, use-and-throw plastic tumblers were seen strewn around the pavements and lawns on the stretch between the Light House and Anna Square.
“On Friday, nearly everyone who had come to the city from other districts visited the Marina Beach, but the crowd was comparatively less on Saturday as partymen from city and suburbs were instructed to stay back in their respective areas,” said an Assistant Commissioner of Police, who was part of crowd management. A staff at Zone IX of Chennai Corporation said they collected close to 12 tonnes of garbage on Friday and Saturday — five tonnes more compared to normal days. The waste also included festoons made from plantain stems and coconut fronds. The road margin was also damaged due to digging of holes to set up flagposts.
The service lane on the beach was choked with buses and vans that brought partymen from neighbouring as well as southern and coastal districts. While women supporters slept in the vehicles, men slept on the lawns. In addition to the free for use public toilets and urinals on pavements, the Corporation had stationed a mobile toilet near Labour Statue, but partymen were spotted relieving themselves in the open around Anna and M.G.R. memorials.
