As the 36-day student protest at Jantar Mantar ended on Saturday, the slogans gave way to the sound of brooms sweeping the pavement. 

Near the entrance to the protest site, close to Janpath metro station, volunteers collected plastic bottles, food wrappers, paper cups and other waste that had accumulated during the sit-in. 

“We have a full team of volunteers here, with different groups of people contributing,” said Shan Sachdeva from west Delhi’s Paschim Vihar, while picking up litter with fellow protesters. 

Some protesters also cleared choked drains, while others collected banners and posters strewn across the road. 

The clean-up effort extended beyond the volunteers. Ragpickers moved through the site collecting recyclable bottles. 

“While municipal workers are picking up garbage, we are picking up bottles,” said Lokesh Gupta, 34, a garbage picker.  Waste was gathered in large blue plastic bags and stacked along the footpath for collection by the New Delhi Municipal Council. 

Concern over litter 

For many protesters, cleanliness had become a concern well before the demonstration ended. 

Arshdeep Singh, 39, from Punjab’s Ludhiana, recalled that after July 20, “there was a mountain of garbage”. He said the problem was not a lack of willingness to keep the site clean but the absence of basic infrastructure. 

“On Day 1, I realised that no matter how much litter we picked up, there would be trash until there are no bins,” he added. 

The protesters later used social media to coordinate crowdfunding and donations, following which dustbins were placed across the site. 

As the last bags of waste were readied for collection, the protesters left the site after ensuring it was clean for those who would gather there next. 

Published - July 26, 2026 12:45 am IST