It was a nightmare for the Marine Drive residents on Diwali night. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) removed at least 16 metric tonnes (MT) of garbage from a two-km stretch after revellers went all out to the celebrate the Festival of Lights.
“We have deployed 200 labourers for that purpose,” said V Balamwar, ward officer of the area.
Though the police booked eight persons under various sections of the Bombay Police Act on Saturday night for disturbing public peace on Marine Drive beach, the residents are not happy. They said the law needed to be implemented more stringently. Kiran Agarwal, joint secretary of GHEF Residents Association told DNA,”We are also against the fire crackers used during wedding ceremonies on nearby Gymkhanas. The crackers are busted anytime, even at midnight. Our complaints against those are never heard, but the police take action against the people celebrating Diwali.”
Confirming the eight arrests, senior police inspector Dilip Chavan told DNA that eight persons had been booked under various sections and all were allowed to go after paying the deposit amount of Rs 1200.
Chavan said more than 2,000 persons, gathered at the Marine Drive stretch to burst crackers on Saturday night. Whenever police officers tried to stop people after the 10 pm deadlines, people pleaded or argued with them.
