The administration put up an impressive show to restore the 62-acre greens of Gandhi Maidan on Monday but tripped on the green laws.

Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) managed to clear areas surrounding bungalows of VIPs at Aney Marg near the chief minister’s residence, Circular Road, Taylor Road, Strand Road and Hardinge Road, but piles of garbage were seen burning on the roadside every few hundred metres in the morning.

Most JD(U) leaders, including several state ministers residing in these areas, had brought in supporters from their respective constituencies for the rally.

The mass gatherings left behind a trail of garbage, including plastic glasses and bottles, thermocol plates and polythene, on their departure. On being burnt, all these let out palls of dense smoke with an acrid smell, inconveniencing morning walkers, joggers and commuters.

“Every morning I go to Eco Park for jogging taking a route through the roads around the park, including Strand Road, which offer a blanket of greenery. However, the morning stroll today was not at all healthy. I was forced to walk amid smoke and foul smell from burning polythene in front of every second bungalow,” said Kaustav Prakash, a resident of Boring Canal Road.

However, civic officials were quick to shift the blame on political leaders.

“We started carting away garbage from these areas from 6am. The executive officer of the New Capital circle oversaw the entire exercise. Around 50 sanitary workers and six tractors were used for clearing garbage near the bungalows of political leaders. However, if garbage was burnt, then it must have been done by the personal staff of such leaders,” said a senior PMC official.

On Hardinge Road, The Telegraph spotted used thermocol plates and food remains falling off an uncovered tractor that was transporting garbage to the secondary landfill site nearby.

Highlighting the ill-effects of burning garbage, Ashok Ghosh, a member of State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority, said: “I had a first-hand experience of the post-rally garbage menace during my morning walk on Strand Road and its neighbouring streets around 5.30am. Heaps of garbage were burning every 200-500 metres. The dense smoke rising from the burning piles of plastic and thermocol are extremely hazardous to human lungs and respiratory system. The smoke was equally hazardous for almost 2,000 plants at Eco Park and hundreds of others on the roads. Burning garbage has become rampant in Patna, as people consider it to be the easiest way of disposal.”

Residents of neighbouring areas also complained about the burning garbage heaps.

“It was a government rally, wherein the ruling party blatantly used official resources. Moreover, the people behind the rally did not follow any rules and neglected the well-being of the city residents. In the morning, the entire area was enveloped in dense black smoke emanating from the burning garbage heaps in front of the bungalows of ministers and other leaders of JD(U). Expecting responsible action from these people is not possible at all,” said Adbul Bari Siddiqui, Leader of Opposition, who resides at Polo Road.

Apart from civic inconvenience, the Municipal Solid Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 2000, prohibits the burning of garbage heaps and dry leaves.

The rules also made it mandatory for cities to develop proper landfill sites but the solid waste management complexes to house such sites are yet to be developed in Bihar.