Gurugram’s garbage piles reduce as staff work under police watch

The police have asked the workers on strike not to create any disturbance or obstruct sanitation work, otherwise strict action would be taken against them

The six new sanitation agencies hired by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) have begun regularly sweeping streets and collecting garbage across the city after being assured that police would take action against the sanitation and contractual staff of MCG who were preventing them from carrying out their work by assaulting their workers, officials aware of the matter said on Wednesday.

Sanitation staff sweep a road in Sector 31 in Gurugram on Wednesday. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

Areas such as sectors 53, 45, 44, 52, 39, 32, 31, 40, South City 1, 29, and stretches between Huda Metro station and Iffco Chowk, Vatika Chowk to Sector 56 Road, and Sector 49 to Sector 50, were cleared on Wednesday, said officials.

The union of 3,400 civic and contractual sanitation workers went on strike after MCG engaged the new agencies in response to complaints of shoddy work against the old private agencies and the civic and contractual sanitation staff. Members of the union had allegeldy assaulted the new sanitation agencies’ staff, damaged their vehicles, threatened them, and purposefully dumped waste in residential areas. The strike, now in its fifth week, had resulted in garbage mounds on streets in residential neighbourhoods and public areas.

The police are monitoring the situation and have asked the workers on strike not to create any disturbance or obstruct ongoing sanitation work, otherwise strict action would be taken against them, said a senior police officer familiar with the situation, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Officials from MCG’s sanitation department are monitoring the new agencies to ensure sanitation work is carried out effectively and that their staff can work safely.

MCG officials said they had formed three teams in each of the city’s eight zones consisting of six members from the sanitation wing to monitor the new agencies’ work in residential areas and market places.

“We have started monitoring areas to ensure waste is collected daily and timely and transported to secondary points. Our teams are also recording the movement of tractor-trolleys and private workers carrying out sanitation work to ensure their safety and security,” said MCG joint commissioner Naresh Kumar.

Kumar said more than 30 sanitation workers of the new agencies were assaulted in the past month, and tyres of tractor-trolleys have been punctured to obstruct their work. “We have written to the police to take action against the people involved in not letting the agencies pick up the garbage and clean 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 put pressure on the state government,” he said.

PC Meena, the MCG commissioner, said they would take strict action against people obstructing sanitation work. “Those involved in any illegal activities will not qualify for any contract in the near future. Senior officials will also conduct surprise checks to ensure good quality work,” he said.

On Tuesday, at least four sanitation workers were assaulted, and their tractor-trolleys transporting waste to a secondary point from Malibu Town were punctured. As a result, a police complaint has been filed against the suspects involved in the assaults.