Garbage lies strewn along Grand Road on Monday. Picture by Sarat Patra

June 30: Lakhs of devotees gather here during the chariot festival leaving behind tonnes of filth on the Grand Road and other parts of the city as well.

Cleaning of Grand Road to make it ready for bahuda yatra (the Lord’s return journey) is not only a priority for hundreds of sweepers working under the Puri Municipality, but also a part of their service to the deities.

The collection of garbage after the chariot festival is more important than the collection after bahuda as the Grand Road needs to be cleaned to facilitate the return journey of the deities.

“All residents of Puri play their part in the chariot festival. Some of them offer water and even food and sweets to devotees in front of their residences, while many provide shelter to the exhausted devotees. But for us, lifting garbage from the famous Grand Road is no less than other services to the deities. We ensure that the devotees along with the local residents get a healthy environment during the festival,” said Bauri Jena, 45, a sweeper who has been working with the municipality for the past one decade.

Incomplete sewerage work and overflowing drains in the city had irked many local residents much before the festival. While the state government had asked the municipality to take up the sanitation job before the festival, the residents allege that the municipality showed lukewarm response towards the state government’s directive.

Sources said the town, with population of more than two lakh, generates solid waste around 70 metric tonnes everyday. But during occasions such as rath yatra, bahuda and suna besha, the figure goes up to 180 metric tonnes. The garbage mostly includes shoes left by devotees while pulling the chariots, coconut shells, earthen lamps and flowers. The devotees also leave behind empty plastic water bottles and pouches in a large number. The left foods and the plates used by various groups for free distribution of food compounds the garbage problem.

While the municipality has started the cleaning work from last night, the continuous rain has emerged as the biggest difficulty for it.

A civic body official said the cleaning job had been given to a Jamshedpur-based private company, but it is yet to deploy its manpower and machinery. “We have deployed as many as 87 persons, including 84 sweepers, to clean the garbage along Grand Road. Rain has affected the cleaning job,” said the municipality’s health officer B.N. Mishra.