As sanitation workers continue strike, garbage dumped across Gurugram

On Tuesday morning, commuters across the city had to negotiate heaps of garbage dumped on the roads by the striking workers even as the administration had to call in workers from other departments to deal with the mess

From glittering buildings and illuminated streets on Diwali to stinking streets and heaps of garbage the day after, Gurugram witnessed a downslide in sanitation management with Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) workers on an indefinite strike since October 19demanding regularisation and alleging harassment by contractors.

Garbage is spilled all over Madanpuri road in Gurugram on Tuesday. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

On Tuesday morning, commuters across the city had to negotiate heaps of garbage dumped on the roads by the striking workers even as the administration had to call in workers from other departments to deal with the mess.

Over 1,000 policemen were deployed across the city after MCG sought their help and protection to remove waste from across the city, authorities said, alleging MCG workers were harassing the concessionaire’s workers who had been asked to clean the city in their stead. On Tuesday, police teams helped clean markets, traffic junctions and main street.

To be sure, the concessionaire’s job is to collect the garbage from the homes of the residents, transport it to the Bandhwari landfill and then recycle it, whereas sanitation workers clean roads, public spaces and the sewerage in the city, and dump the garbage at designated sites.

According to officials, 6,000 employees and contractual workers of the MCG are on an indefinite strike and have stopped cleaning streets, residential areas and public places. This has resulted in the pile-up of garbage in different areas.

MCG joint commissioner Naresh Kumar, “The staff is on strike and is not letting others pick up the garbage and clean the areas. They are also intentionally unloading garbage vehicles in markets, residential areas and roads, inconveniencing residents. They are dumping garbage in key areas so that residents are inconvenienced and report the issue on social media to create pressure on state government,” he said.

Police on Monday said they had detained 21 union leaders and sanitation workers for allegedly assaulting employees of Ecogreen Energy, the concessionaire engaged by MCG for waste management, to stop them from picking up garbage from different locations. The workers, police said, had damaged vehicles used to collect garbage, punctured earth-moving machines and damaged other vehicles while threatening Ecogreen Energy’s employees. They were let off later the same day, police said, adding no case was registered against them

Sanjay Sharma, deputy chief executive officer of Ecogreen Energy, said they have doubled their staff strength, and presently 1,700 workers are deployed to pick up garbage from across the city. “On Tuesday, our teams were sent to 105 locations to collect garbage and 1,300 tonnes was collected from many residential as well as market areas, including Sadar market. The sanitation workers are threatening our teams against picking up garbage, but with the help of MCG officials and police force, the cleanliness drive has begun,” he said.

Meanwhile, MCG workers continued to press for their demands.

Ram Singh, president of Nagar Nigam Safai Karamchari Sangh, a sanitation workers’ union, said that their main demands are that the government abolish the contractual system, implement equal pay and restore the old pension scheme, among others. “Despite our repeated pleas, the government has turned a deaf ear, leaving us no choice but to protest. We have been requesting police and others involved in picking up garbage to support us in our protest and not to pick any garbage from anywhere. If garbage is picked up anyway, our demands will never be met,” he said.

Singh said that the union’s teams will ensure garbage is not picked up. “Our teams are in the field keeping a close eye on the areas where garbage has been dumped. Even if we are jailed , we will not let anyone clean the city,” he said.

Meanwhile, Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said that teams from Sector 14, 22, Civil Lines, and City police stations have been asked to take strict action against those found dumping garbage across the city. “We have let go of the union leaders who were disrupting the cleanliness drives and were instigating other sanitation workers after five hours, but if they are again caught, cases will be registered against them,” he said.