The high court had asked the Kolkata Port Trust, Hooghly and the Calcutta and Howrah civic bodies to remove on a war footing the flotsam after immersion of Durga idols by October 17 on 41 ghats. The trust was to provide 50 per cent of the money to remove the debris.

The civic bodies will bear the rest.

But the KMC was unable to do so within the stipulated time period. Nor did the KoPT participate in the process.

Mayor in council of Parks and Gardens Faiyaz Ahmed Khan said: "The KoPT has not paid a single paisa for the clean up drive."

The civic body was supposed to construct zones for dumping of flowers and other materials used in a puja. Cages were supposed to be constructed in all the 41 ghats.

But apart from Babughat, cages were not constructed in any other ghats like Rashmoni ghat, Judges ghat, Ahiritola ghat, Bagbazar and Baje Kadamtala ghat.

The festival season began in mid-October and stretched till the second week of November. During this time, the ghats became a dumping ground.

The Rashmoni Ghat and the Judges ghat have become an eyesore as the frames of the deities lie there. "After November 7, no civic trucks have come to collect the waste. We have removed the wooden structures from the water and kept them on one side of the ghat," said Ramkinkar Pandey, a priest on Rashmoni ghat.