Gurugram Ward 5 issues: Waste dumping, bad roads, clogged sewers, traffic jams

Ward 5 of Gurugram faces severe issues: illegal waste dumping, poor sanitation, traffic jams, and damaged roads. Residents demand better infrastructure and sanitation.

Ward five of Gurugram, which comprises Sectors 17A, 17B, 18, Sirhaul village, and Udyog Vihar Phases 1 to 5, is home to more than 600,000 people. Its problems are of a piece with the rest of the city — illegal dumping of garbage, and construction and demolition waste, poor sanitation, severe traffic jams during peak hours, and damaged roads with widespread encroachments.

Garbage on the roadside in Sarhaul village near the Government School in Gurugram Ward number five on Friday. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

One of the most pressing issues for residents here is illegal waste dumping, especially at night. Residents say that every alternate morning they wake up to find roads in their neighbourhood littered with garbage dumped at night.

An HT spot check on Friday found construction and demolition waste dumped on the lanes of Udyog Vihar Phase 1, 2, 4 and 5 and also in many parts of Sector 18 and Sirhaul village. Locals alleged that despite repeated complaints nothing has been done and only temporary solutions have bene provided by partially removing waste. The movement of heavy vehicles overloaded with waste is also one of the reasons for the damaged condition of the area’s roads.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has said that the waste is being dumped by vehicles from neighbouring Delhi. It said that it has fined 288 people, mostly vendors, for illegally dumping waste in the area during the last two months.

Gurugram’s cleanliness has declined drastically in the past year, according to the Swachh Survekshan Survey 2023, the annual ranking of cities based on their cleanliness by the central government that was released in January this year, which judged it the 140th cleanest city out of 446 urban local bodies with a population of more than 100,000 people.

As the elections approach, residents of these areas are hopeful that their next representative will prioritise these issues and bring about the much-needed change they have been waiting for. Their demands are clear — better infrastructure, improved sanitation, a resolution to the traffic chaos, and effective measures to control pollution at key intersections such as Iffco Chowk, which connects to Sector 17, Sector 18 and Udyov Vihar.

Garbage mismanagement

“The garbage piles we wake up to every other day also spreads a foul smell throughout the neighbourhood, and attracts animals such as pigs and stray dogs. Despite multiple complaints MCG and district administration, the situation remains unchanged,” said Sunita Sharma, a Sector 18 resident. She added that it is almost next to impossible for a pedestrian to commute through these roads due to the stench.

Compounding the waste problem is the poor sanitation in the area. Garbage collection services are erratic, leading to overflowing bins and trash piling up in public spaces. In Udyog Vihar, one of the city’s major industrial hubs, sanitation is in such a poor state that workers and residents struggle with the unsanitary conditions daily.

“The streets are rarely cleaned and the waste just keeps piling up. It’s a serious health hazard. Broken roads result in a dusty environment which causes severe pollution and authorities have never even given a thought to build them,” said Ravi Kumar, who works in a firm in Udyog Vihar Phase 3.

Sube Singh, another resident of Sector 18, said that MCG sanitation workers hardly come once a week. “The situation is bad in our sector, Sector 17, and parts of Sirhaul or Udyog Vihar,” he said. “Even if we are inside our home, we can feel the garbage stench. We have been continuously writing to authorities but no action has been taken. Illegal dumping is a major issue besides water logging and clogged sewers. Heavy vehicles even from Delhi side reach internal and secluded areas of Udyog Vihar phases to dump waste materials. The roads have been completely damaged due to such vehicular movements,” he added.

Traffic jams

Road encroachments in Udyog Vihar have worsened the traffic congestion in the area. Illegal stalls, parked vehicles, and unregulated structures have narrowed the roads, making daily commutes a disaster.

“It is a nightmare trying to get through these roads during rush hour. The encroachments leave hardly any space for vehicles, and the traffic comes to a complete standstill. It takes at least two hours to move even three kilometres during peak hours,” said Amit Joshi, a regular commuter through Udyog Vihar. He said that traffic from Delhi also enter these areas and uses the internal roads as shortcuts, which worsens jams and snarls.

Bad roads

The condition of the roads themselves is a major concern. Many are riddled with potholes, further hindering traffic flow and posing risks to both drivers and pedestrians. During the monsoon season, the situation worsens as water fills the potholes, making them difficult to see and increasing the likelihood of accidents.

Poor drainage system

Clogged drains and overflowing sewerage systems are yet another challenge. Poor maintenance has led to frequent blockages, resulting in waterlogging during rains and contributing to the deterioration of roads. “The drains here are always clogged, and whenever it rains, the roads become rivers. The sewage overflows and the smell is unbearable,” said Meena Gupta, a resident of Sector 17B.

Residents said that such is the situation of the clogged drains that there is severe waterlogging in the Sector 18 Huda market for the last three days as there is no way for water to flow out. They said that the area around a temple in Sirhaul is especially filled with garbage.

High air and noise pollution

Adding to the woes, residents of Sector 17 also must contend with the heavy traffic and pollution at Iffco Chowk, one of the key intersections in the city. The constant flow of vehicles results in high levels of vehicular emissions and noise pollution.

“Being one of the key intersections in the city, Iffco Chowk sees heavy traffic, and we bear the brunt of vehicular emissions and noise pollution. We have urged the district administration and the state pollution control board to inspect the area and suggest measures to check pollution,” said Reena D. Singh, a resident of Sector 17.

Despite repeated complaints, residents feel that their concerns have fallen on deaf ears. “We have raised the issue repeatedly with the local administration, but nothing happened. Now we have listed this issue for discussion at the district grievance redressal meeting next month. We have written to chief minister’s window. We want the district administration to act,” said Anup Singha, another resident.

Residents pick up the slack

Some residents have hired private garbage collectors to ensure their waste is disposed of properly, while others avoid main roads during peak hours to escape traffic jams. Locals said they pay ₹300 per month and ₹100 to collect from door step. Balram Yadav a resident of Sector 18 said that he lives on second floor and the waste was not being collected since the vendor refused to climb up the stair case. After I offered to pay extrea, he started coming daily,” he said.

In Udyog Vihar, businesses have organised community clean-up drives. Many companies have many times organised drives where corporates have picked waste from the service lanes and green areas to make it clean and clear.

Acknowledging the gravity of the situation, deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav said, “We have already asked GMDA (Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority) to remove encroachments from these areas. MCG has been directed to pick up waste from the roads and teams have already been formed. New tenders have been floated to ensure that sanitation is taken care of. We will also form a team and inspect the areas.”

“Sanitation issues have been addressed. It was observed that vehicles from Delhi were dumping waste, and door-to-door collection is being monitored by the sanitation team. We are keeping a check and have imposed fines on people dumping waste illegally in the areas,” said MCG commissioner Narhari Singh Bangar.