Door-to-door garbage collection still below mandated strength in Gurugram

Only 405 of 591 required vehicles are operating. Residents report missed pickups, while MCG plans portal-based monitoring linked to contractor payments.

Weeks after irregularities were found in the deployment of door-to-door garbage collection vehicles, the agencies awarded the contracts are yet to deploy the full mandated fleet, with the service continuing to operate below required strength despite directions from the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG).

Officials said one agency has been blacklisted and another served a show cause notice. Several RWAs say waste collection remains irregular. (HT Archive)

The irregularities were flagged by the corporation during inspections conducted in the second week of July, which found that the five agencies had deployed significantly fewer door-to-door garbage collection vehicles than the mandated 591 under their contracts. Residents across several parts of Gurugram said door-to-door garbage collection remains irregular even after MCG took cognisance of the issue and directed contractors to comply with contract terms.

An MCG official, requesting anonymity, said the situation has improved only marginally, with 405 of the mandated 591 garbage collection vehicles currently deployed, up from 369 vehicles found during inspections conducted in July.

The contracted agencies have not publicly explained the shortfall in deployment. MCG has issued a show cause notice to one agency, blacklisted another, and directed all contractors to deploy the mandated number of door-to-door garbage collection vehicles in accordance with their contracts, officials said.

Meanwhile, Puneet Pahwa, general secretary of the Sector 45 Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA), said the sector has hired a private agency after losing faith in MCG’s service. “However, the situation in neighbouring Kanhai village is still poor, with garbage collection remaining irregular. As a result, many residents dump their waste in Sector 45, creating an additional burden for us,” he said.

Kalyan Singh, a resident of Sector 14, said sanitation has steadily deteriorated over the past four to five months. “Garbage is not being collected regularly... The problem becomes even worse during the monsoon, as uncollected waste starts piling up, creating foul odours and unhygienic conditions in the neighbourhood,” he said.

MCG officials said all agencies will now have to register their door-to-door waste collection, road-sweeping services, waste transportation vehicles and manpower on the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Monitoring Portal. Payments will be released only for registered vehicles and manpower based on work execution recorded on the portal.

MCG commissioner Pradeep Dahiya said, “The SWM Monitoring Portal is a significant step in this direction. It will enable real-time monitoring of sanitation works, ensure better utilisation of resources and improve the quality of services.”