Maratha Quota Stir: Police Issue Notice, Jarange to Vacate Azad Maidan Amid Sanitation, Traffic Chaos

The Mumbai Police have issued an eviction notice as activist Manoj Jarange's hunger strike over the Maratha quota demand entered its fifth day. The notice orders him and his group, to leave Azad Maidan as soon as possible, according to officials.

PTI reported that according to the police notice, around 40,000 agitators came from all over Maharashtra, even though permission had previously been given for a gathering of 5,000 demonstrators at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai.

In the past few days, protesters have gathered in large numbers to block roads in south Mumbai. They also parked around 5,000 vehicles on roads leading to the Azad Maidan and surrounding regions, causing severe traffic congestion, they added.

The police claim that the demonstrators broke the rules previously established for the quota agitation by cooking meals on the roads, taking baths, dancing, and playing cricket in public places.

The square outside Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), which is only a few meters from Azad Maidan, was cleaned by civic workers on Monday night. They also cleaned the roads that connect it, which were covered in trash and leftover food from the quota protesters.

As Jarange's indefinite fast entered its fifth day on Tuesday, there was no indication that the impasse over the Maratha quota issue would end.

According to PTI, in order to restore normalcy, the Bombay High Court on Monday ordered his followers to leave and clean up all of the city's streets by Tuesday noon.

Officials claimed that Jarange and his core team received a notification from the Azad Maidan police telling them to leave the agitation site after the Maratha quota protesters disregarded the pre-agitation conditions set by the police in accordance with the HC's orders.

According to the official, eight members of Amaran Uposhan's core team and the protest organizing group from Jarange's hometown of Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district were named on the notice.

The organisers requested an extension for the agitation on Monday, but the police refused their request because the demonstrators had broken several rules, he claimed.

He added that the Mumbai Police requested that the organisers leave Azad Maidan as soon as possible, even though they denied permission for the protests.

Jarange has been calling for Marathas to be granted reservation benefits under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. Thousands of his fans have traveled to Mumbai in trucks and buses from all around Maharashtra.

Many of the trucks were still parked at the CSMT square and on the connecting roads on Monday night, despite the fact that some Maratha quota protesters moved their trucks to authorised parking spots.

The HC said Monday that it was providing Jarange and demonstrators a "opportunity" to make sure all streets are cleared and cleaned by Tuesday noon, citing the fact that Maratha agitation had "literally paralyzed" Mumbai and had broken all the rules, bringing the city to a halt.

The 43-year-old activist stopped drinking water on Monday, but after the HCs asked the demonstrators to leave the streets, he took a few drinks in the evening to speak to the media.

According to PTI, for the past two days, medical professionals from the state-run JJ Hospital have been monitoring his condition.

Jarange charged Devendra Fadnavis, the chief minister of Maharashtra, on Monday with purposefully postponing a decision on the matter.

"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 on Monday turned the CSMT station premises into a sporting arena, playing kabaddi, kho kho and even wrestling with each other. Some protesters dumped leftover food, empty water bottles, wrappers and fruit peels on road medians, the station platforms and even on tracks.

Movement of people and vehicles became difficult due to haphazardly parked vehicles and mud slurry caused by light rain.

After using machines to remove trash, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) staff used pressure jet sprays on Monday night to clean the square outside CSMT and the roads that connect it, according to officials.

Additionally, sanitation personnel used brooms to clean the connected roads.

To keep Azad Maidan and the adjacent regions, where a sizable number of protesters have assembled, clean, the BMC has sent out some 1,000 sanitation personnel in recent days.

The demonstrators were given garbage collection bags, according to the BMC, which encouraged them to fill the bags with trash and turn them in for disposal.  The civic organization has also installed 400 restrooms at different sites.