On November 27, people struggled to walk on the street from Spencer junction to Statue junction near secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram as both sides of the road were full of plastic bottles, waste paper and other plastic waste. The waste was strewn all over the road. A person from outside Thiruvananthapuram was heard asking a police officer what happened in the city. But the scattered waste is a common sight for residents of Thiruvananthapuram, after any protest near the Kerala Secretariat.
Police officers say they have requested the protesters many times to clean up the waste themselves after demonstrations.
"There are no rules regarding this, so we just request them to clean. But in most cases, if there is more waste after the protest, we inform the corporation and they will send cleaning staff. Sometimes the waste will be cleaned next morning," Unnikrishnan Nair, a police officer who was deployed for duty near the Secretariat last week, told TNM.
He added that after a few protests, the street will be fully covered in plastic waste.
Plastic water bottles, plastic sheets, papers, placards, snack covers etc., are largely found scattered in the area. Usually packaged water in plastic bottles are distributed to the protesters which is later thrown onto the road by them. Sometimes, the protesters carelessly throw the packets used to carry food, snacks and biscuits onto the road which adds to the litter. Corporation workers clean the area every morning or sometimes in the evening.
Shantha*, a corporation staff member who cleans the area, said that it is a hectic job after a protest.
"We will have to spend 10 times more time in Statue junction after a few protests. The accumulate waste is sometimes so huge that we have to spend hours here. We know that it is our duty to clean, but that doesn't mean people can be so irresponsible and careless. Nobody tells them not to throw waste here. After all, we have no voice," she expresses her anguish.
A police officer said that protestors can be more responsible.
"I am not against people's right to protest. But they can be more responsible. Water can be distributed in glasses rather than giving plastic bottles. Even if the waste is cleaned by the Corporation, just think about dealing with so much plastic. They can even allot a group to clean after their demonstration is over but again, we have to come up with a proper system to deal with plastic," he said, on condition of anonymity
There are demonstrations where protesters themselves take moral responsibility to clean up the area. "In many such protests, they have tried to implement a green protocol. I remember some PSC rank-holders protesting about completely avoiding plastic. And after the procession, they themselves cleaned the area," Shibu K Nair, programme director, Thanal, an environmental NGO, told TNM.
“Presently, other than giving awareness, we cannot act on the issue as there are no definite regulations. People show their anger on the street. The protesters should have proper awareness and be responsible towards the environment when they protest," he added.
Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Town Planning standing committee Chairperson Palayam Rajan told TNM that after the state bans plastic products from January 1, the problem can be resolved a bit.
"We can bring regulations only at the ministry level. At the Corporation, we are doing our best to keep the area clean,” he said.