Mumbai: For over six hours on Thursday, cricket lovers took over the entire stretch of Marine Drive as cricket lovers descended on Mumbai’s favourite place to greet the T20 World Cup-winning heroes.
The victory parade on an open-top bus, from Marine Drive to Wankhede Stadium, took about an hour to cover the 1.7 km route, but cricket-crazy Mumbaikars had assembled in thousands many hours earlier to get vantage points, not perturbed by occasional showers.
Once the dust settled, post the team’s felicitation at the jam-packed Wankhede Stadium, and the massive crowds made their way back home, it was time for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to get going.
Besides BMC staffers, 25 labourers were roped in through NGOs.
They worked tirelessly overnight and in early morning hours to collect a whopping 11,500 kg (11.5 metric tonne) of waste along Marine Drive stretch, reported The Indian Express.
BMC workers picked up shoes, chappals, clothes, plastic bottles, chip wrappers, cups, paper, posters, caps, banners – you name it.
“Due to the large number of people who had arrived in the area, the cleanliness activities were hampered at several intervals. Even then, the drive was completed by 8 am, by which time we cleared and loaded waste into one compactor, one dumper and five SCBVs. Most of the waste loaded into the small vehicles were fluffy materials, which occupies volumes but not much weight,” said a senior BMC official.
The fact that so many shoes and sandals were found obviously means that several people went home barefoot. Considering the volume of people who had gathered, police and security personnel did a great job to ensure no stampede-like situation occurred.