On Marathon Sunday,Mumbai runs on ‘cause-way’

Another group of three,dressed like politicians in white kurta-pajamas,wore garlands of footwear and placards bearing strong messages against corruption. Prakash Mehta said,“I think this is an ideal platform to express my anger and dissatisfaction with the rampant corruption in our governance system.”

Manasi Sharma,24,wore an onion-like balloon to make her look like an onion. Bhagwandas Sanghvi,a builder,wore a garland of onions and wrapped himself in newspaper cuttings on inflation. “The poor have been known to eat rotis with onions,which has now become unaffordable,” he said.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Rajneesh Sheth said personnel from various forces such as the armed police and state reserve police force were deployed along with combat vehicles at strategic spots.

As the mid-day sun shone bright,runners fainted due to dehydration and were carried on stretchers to the medical camps situated at 12 locations across the route. The event also saw participation from over 197 corporate challenge teams and179 non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The marathon went off smoothly but the spat between the BMC and the organisers over dues could not be resolved. Commissioner Mohan Adtani said till Sunday evening the organisers had not cleaned up the litter along the route,adding that if they failed to do so by Monday morning the BMC would retain the deposit of Rs 49,000 paid for cleaning of the route.

“In all likelihood,they won’t clean the roads as they have not done so over the past few years. If we find that they have dug potholes on the road and not refilled them,we will retain a part of the main deposit of Rs 15 lakh as well,depending upon the size and number of potholes,” said Adtani. The organisers owe the BMC Rs.1.88 crore for painting and road-leveling works.