CHENNAI: “Wherever we protest, we have been taking care to designate a person by turn to clean the place before we leave. Here, with this kind of crowd, it’s still difficult although it’s saddening to see the state of the beach,” said Nandhini A, a second year law student.
The protesters were put to inconvenience also due to lack of adequate toilets.
“The corporation toilets were so crowded yesterday and some people had to wait as they had no other option,” said Hari (name changed), a student of the College of Engineering, who was at the protest.
Although mobile toilets were brought in, many were put to use exceeding their capacity resulting in leakage.
However, volunteers said they would do everything in their capacity to ensure they leave the area clean when the protests are over. “It is our protest. We are coordinating it, we help clear the traffic, make sure women and children are safe. What’s the point in fighting for a big cause such as this if we are dirtying our hometown,” said S Snegalatha, an IT professional.
Usually, at the end of the day, corporation workers clean up the place. But since the protests have been going on night and day for five days now, they are finding it difficult to clean the area, said a corporation source.
The protesters started thronging the Marina five days ago, heeding call of activists made on social networking sites. The culmination of their unrelenting protests came in the form of an ordinance passed by the State government.