Do-it-yourself clean crusade - Students step up to teach political parties and poll panel how to care for Calcutta

KARO CHRISTINE KUMAR

Subhojit Ghosh, the country’s ISC topper, joined a group of 40 to help clear the Beckbagan-Park Circus stretch of poll clutter. Picture by Sanat Kumar Sinha Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee is busy sulking in defeat, Mamata Banerjee is busy exulting in victory and the Election Commission is busy taking a break. So, it’s up to some young Calcuttans and a few others to make the city a cleaner and better place to live in. A three-pronged people’s movement to rid three parts of the city of muck on the walls, poll clutter, and garbage in a water body brought the city’s ISC topper and the mayor together over the weekend. Subhojit Ghosh, 18, who scored 99.25 per cent in his ISC exams, hit Beckbagan on Saturday morning to help rid the streets of the remains of poll day while mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya joined GenX and GenEx in slipping on the gloves and fishing out the muck from the Dhakuria Lakes. And then there was the clean Dalhousie crusade. The first round of the clean-up in the Beckbagan-Park Circus area took off at 6am on Saturday with an army of 40 armed with pliers, cutters tied to bamboo sticks, and ladders. CPM and Trinamul posters and banners were pulled down, skyliners plugged with flags snapped and bills scraped off walls. The clean sweep also claimed illegal placards pinned to trees and tied to electric poles. “The best part was the ripple effect — some party workers in the area started to clean up their mess once the word spread,” said Rehan Waris, whose Cleanworx team was joined by students from Loreto House, Saifee Hall, St Joseph’s College, Don Bosco Park Circus, Lakshmipat Singhania Academy and Ballygunge Shiksha Sadan. “There should be greater awareness about this because it is for the betterment of the city and society,” said ISC topper Subhojit, carting away flags and festoons. At the same time on Saturday, a dozen committed Calcuttans were engaged in Mission Dalhousie. With plastic gloves and brooms, they attacked the paan spit, posters and billboards scarring the grand old edifices of Stephen House, Currency Building and more. “These protected buildings are at the mercy of callous citizens and an apathetic administration,” said Iftekhar Ahsan of Calcutta Walks, which takes tourists around the heritage zones, flanked by students from St Joseph’s College and some friends. “I saw the invite on Facebook. It’s about time something like this happened here,” said Kunal Lunawat, 21, down for his summer break from Yale. On Sunday, the clean-up campaign moved from the streets to the waters for the third round of Operation Dhakuria Lakes. Joining volunteers from Bengal Rowing Club with shovels, spades and pitchforks were 35 students from 11 schools, the citizens’ group Calcutta Sparkling, some morning walkers and the mayor. “The message is loud and clear. Save the water body, keep it clean and plastic-free. We must not turn any water body into a garbage dump,” said Bhattacharyya.