Mumbai: CM Eknath Shinde’s Dussehra rally creates grand mess on MU campus

A day after Chief Minister Eknath Shindersquos Dussehra rally at BKC student bodies and youth wings of political parties including the Yuva Sena affiliated to the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena protested the ldquomessrdquo created on the Mumbai Universityrsquos Kalina campus that provided parking facility for the eventThe protesters shared photos and videos of liquor and water bottles strewn around scattered plates and leftover food apart from heaps of garbage dumped after the rally on Wednesday A student who did not wish to be named said the scene was particularly bad outside the newly constructed knowledge resource centre ldquoBefore the varsity conservancy staff or BMC garbage vehicles reached in the morning the campus was quite a sight I really wished the vicechancellor provicechancellor and even the CM himself had seen itrdquo said the studentA pile of trash on the varsity campusHe said plates were strewn outside the knowledge resource centre with stray dogs feasting on the leftover food ldquoThere was a strong urine odour at several places Few of my classmates complained about it This is a university campus but it looked like a ground or lawn rented for wedding functions a day afterrdquo Last week Yuva Sena leaders and a few student organisations objected to the varsityrsquos decision to allow the vehicles arriving for the CMrsquos rally to be parked at the Kalina campus They had warned the university administration about the potential mess and misuse of the university spaceAlso Read Introspect why so many leaders have quit party Eknath Shinde to Uddhav ThackerayEven liquor bottles were lying around along with other trash said Yuva Sena workers who have sought action against the organisers ldquoSeveral plots on the Kalina campus including the helipad were used to park vehicles arriving for the CMrsquos Dussehra rally on Wednesday This has left a huge mess on the campus with booze bottles everywhere and the stink of leftover food hanging in the airhellip Will the governor who also serves as the statersquos chancellor and education minister take action against such irresponsible behaviourrdquo asked Yuva Senarsquos Pradeep Sawant a member of MUrsquos SenateStudent bodies said they also came across several liquor bottles on Thursday morningAdvocate Amol Matele an NCP spokesperson and leaders of the Nationalist Student Congress said ldquoA political rally of the CM Eknath Shinde camp was held at the Bandra Kurla Complex The arrangement of the vehicles coming to this gathering is a tradition of making money on the occasion of Dussehra by arranging parking at the University of Mumbai Sadly arrangements were also made for alcohol consumption on the Mumbai University campus for the visitorsrdquoFormer MU student Ashish Dwivedi who is also an activist from Chatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti said ldquoWe will not let this subject go until the university administration issues a clarification or admits that this was their mistake and that they would never give out space on the campus for political events again We will organise a student protest against the decision of the university administration If nothing is done this will happen every yearrdquo A Mumbai University official told midday ldquoAll the mess and garbage strewn in the area where parking was allowed has been cleaned and cleared from the campus If there are any damages during this time the same will be repaired by the BMCrdquoBoth rallies added to noise pollution activistUddhav Thackerayrsquos Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park and the one held by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at BKC on Wednesday were too loud antinoise pollution activist Sumaira Abdulali has said demanding police action against the two groupsActivist Sumaira Abdulali with a sound level monitor at Shivaji Park on WednesdayAbdulali the convenor of the NGO Awaaz foundation said the highest noise level recorded at Shivaji Park was 1016 dB louder than a discotheque The noise level recorded at Shindersquos rally was 885 dB which is still a violation of noise pollution rules she said The highest decibel in the 2019 Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park was 939 dBldquoThe highest decibel level was from the drums on the road outside the park next to a school and nursing home The loudest speech was by former Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar and was recorded at a maximum of 97 dBThe event continued for 3 hours 2 hours longer than the 2019 Dussehra Rally at Shivaji ParkrdquoAbdulali said Shivaji Park is a residential pocket and was declared a Silence Zone by a Bombay High Court order ldquoAfter the Noise Rules were amended in 2017 the state government has not renotified it as a Silence Zone I have already written to Mumbai police on Twitter and will soon send a complaint letter to book the organisers of both events for violating noise pollution rulesrdquo