Mumbai, Sep 2 (PTI) On Tuesday, the Mumbai Police issued a notice to activist Manoj Jarange and his team to vacate Azad Maidan promptly. This directive came as Jarange's hunger strike for the Maratha quota demand entered its fifth day.
Originally, permission was granted for a gathering of 5,000 protesters at Azad Maidan in South Mumbai. However, more than 40,000 protesters arrived from various parts of Maharashtra, causing concerns among the police.
Over the past few days, protesters blocked roads in South Mumbai by assembling in large numbers. More than 5,000 vehicles were parked on roads leading to Azad Maidan and nearby areas, resulting in heavy traffic congestion.
Protesters were found cooking food on roads, bathing, dancing, and even playing cricket in public spaces, which violated the conditions set beforehand for the quota agitation.
The square outside Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), located near Azad Maidan, along with connecting roads, had been littered with leftover food and trash by the protesters. Civic personnel cleaned these areas, officials reported.
The standoff over the Maratha quota issue continued to show no signs of resolution as Jarange's indefinite fast entered its fifth day on Tuesday.
On Monday, the Bombay High Court ordered Jarange's supporters to vacate and clean all streets in the city by Tuesday noon to restore normalcy.
Due to violations of pre-agitation conditions set by the police in accordance with the HC's directives, the Azad Maidan police issued a notice to Jarange and his core team, requesting them to vacate the agitation venue.
The notice was addressed to Amaran Uposhan, the protest-organizing body from Jarange's native village Antarwali Sarati in the Jalna district, and eight members of its core team.
As the conditions were violated, permission for the organizers was denied when they sought an extension for the agitation. The Mumbai Police also instructed the organizers to vacate Azad Maidan promptly.
Jarange has been demanding the inclusion of Marathas in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category to secure reservation benefits.
Thousands of supporters from across Maharashtra have traveled to Mumbai in trucks and buses to take part in the agitation.
Although some Maratha quota protesters relocated their trucks to designated parking spaces on Monday night, many vehicles remained parked at the CSMT square and adjoining roads.
The HC noted that Mumbai was "literally paralyzed" due to the Maratha agitation, with violations of all conditions that brought the city to a standstill. The HC granted an "opportunity" to Jarange and protesters to ensure all streets were vacated and cleaned by Tuesday noon.
The 43-year-old activist refrained from taking water from Monday onwards but took a few sips in the evening to address the media after the HC asked the protesters to vacate the streets.
Doctors from the state-run JJ Hospital have been monitoring his health status for the past two days.
On Monday, Jarange accused Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis of intentionally delaying a decision on the issue.
"It is so easy to take a decision (on providing quota to Marathas). The government has to just say it is implementing Hyderabad, Satara and other gazetteers and declare all Marathas in Marathwada as Kunbis. The distribution of such certificates can be done by district collectors and tehsildars," he claimed.
His supporters turned the CSMT station premises into a sporting area, partaking in kabaddi, kho-kho, and even wrestling.
Some protesters discarded leftover food, empty water bottles, wrappers, and fruit peels on road medians, station platforms, and even on tracks.
The activity rendered movement of people and vehicles challenging due to haphazardly parked vehicles and mud slurry caused by light rain.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) personnel washed the square outside CSMT and its adjoining roads using pressure jet sprays on Monday night after removing waste with machines. Sanitation workers also cleaned the connecting roads using brooms.
Over the past days, BMC deployed around 1,000 sanitation workers to preserve cleanliness at Azad Maidan and surrounding areas, where numerous protesters congregated.
The BMC distributed garbage collection bags among the protesters, urging them to deposit trash in the bags for disposal. Additionally, the civic body installed 400 toilets at various locations.
(Only the headline of this report may have been reworked by Editorji; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)