Locals bear brunt of Manesar sanitation workers’ protest for salaries

Residents alleged the strike has led to unhygienic condition across the city, causing water logging, health problems and other issues

Heaps of garbage were seen littered around roads, parks, and public areas across Manesar as an indefinite strike called by sanitation workers of the Municipal Corporation of Manesar (MCM) on September 16 to protest against unpaid salaries continued in the city even as workers on Tuesday added that the agitation will continue for at least five more days.

Garbage dumped on roads by the Manesar NH 48 main bus stand due to strike by MCM workers. (HT Photo)

Residents alleged the strike has led to unhygienic condition across the city, causing water logging, health problems and other issues.

On Tuesday, MCM sanitation workers, represented by their union Akhil Bharatiya Safai Karamchari Kalyan Sanghatan (ABSKKS), submitted a memorandum to MCM commissioner Imran Raza demanding that three months’ pending salaries of around 700 sanitation workers be cleared, otherwise they will launch a bigger protest from October 3.

“The salaries of around 700 sanitation workers, cumulatively amounting to over ₹3 crore, have not been paid by the MCM for the last three months. The union members and sanitation workers submitted a memorandum to the MCM commissioner on Tuesday demanding salaries to be cleared immediately. The commissioner informed us that he has taken up the matter with the Haryana government and asked us to give him time till Sunday,” said Gaurav Tank, Haryana president, ABSKKS.

Tank added that the workers will continue their strike until their salaries are paid.

“If the salaries of sanitation workers are still not paid by Sunday, we will launch a full-scale strike against MCM, which will also include workers of private agencies executing sanitation services for the civic body,” said Tank.

Earlier in the day, a large group of sanitation workers also protested outside the MCM office in Sector 8.

“The matter (of non-payment of salaries) has been ongoing for some time. Its approval is pending with the Haryana government. A proposal in this regard was sent to the government by my predecessor (former MCM commissioner Munish Sharma). I conveyed to the sanitation workers and their union members that the power to sanction their salaries is not in the hands of the MCM commissioner and cannot be processed locally,” said Raza, adding that he has forwarded the memorandum and the demands of the sanitation workers and the union to the Haryana government and clarified that no timeframe can be given on the payment as the matter rests with the government.

Raza was transferred as the MCM commissioner on August 27 by the Haryana government.

Residents, meanwhile, complained that the lack of sanitation services by the civic body is posing danger to public health.

“We have written to senior MCM officials several times and they assured us that they will ensure the area is cleaned but the condition is getting worse day by day as roads and public areas continue to remain unclean. This is their internal issue, why should the residents suffer,” said Parveen Yadav, a resident of Manesar village.

Nitish Soni, a resident of IMT Manesar, alleged that due to unhygienic conditions in the area, three members of his family are down with high fever and infection.

“With roads not being cleaned for over 10 days, the drains in the area are blocked. Last week’s rains led to water logging and several stretches have become mosquito breeding grounds due to which there have been many vector-borne disease cases in the area including in my house. We need urgent help and attention of the authorities to get the area cleaned,” he said.