MCG says waste management has improved as new agency completes one month

The agency is currently undertaking operations using 600 rickshaws and 344 other vehicles for waste collection since June 15

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram, after conducting surprise checks across the city, said that door-to-door waste collection has improved in the city, but illegal dumping on roadsides and on vacant plots continues to remain a challenge.

Door-to-door waste collection in Gurugram. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

According to MCG officials, after more than six months of waste management struggles due to discrepancies with agencies and poor upkeep, the situation has improved in the one month since the new agency took charge. The agency is currently undertaking operations using 600 rickshaws and 344 other vehicles for waste collection since June 15.

MCG commissioner Dr Narhari Singh Bangar said that all waste collection vehicles will soon be fitted with GPS for better monitoring, to ensure that waste is only dumped at designated sites. “Efforts are ongoing to address waste management challenges in Gurugram. The new agency has brought in a fleet of over 600 vehicles for collecting fresh waste. The situation has improved across the city, but there are a few rural areas that need more attention. Due to local issues, the situation in these areas is still not satisfactory, but we are working to ensure waste management is better coordinated,” he said.

“With the improvement in door-to-door waste collection, public places, such as roads, sidewalks, green belts, markets and garbage-vulnerable points, are being cleaned regularly. Citizens are urged to cooperate in making Gurugram clean, beautiful, and better,” he said.

Officials emphasised on collective responsibility, urging residents to adhere to proper waste disposal practices.

Prakshit Singh, the director of Bimalraj Outsourcing Pvt Ltd, the company responsible for collecting segregated waste door to door, said many are still giving mixed waste. “We are spreading awareness and will continue to do so for a month. From the next month, we will not collect waste from houses if it is not segregated. Our job is to collect and ensure that waste is sent to the secondary points; rest is the responsibility of processing units,” he said.

Kusum Sharma, a resident of Suncity Township in Sector 54 and a social activist, said there has been an improvement in door-to-door waste collection, but emphasised that mixed waste being sent to secondary points undermines efforts to reduce the burden on the Bandhwari landfill.

Ruchika Sethi Takkar, founder member of ‘Why Waste Your Waste’, a civil society movement, said: “The most important thing is to set up waste processing infrastructure, such as dry waste collection centres, biogas,CBG and composting plants. The only way to ensure the city is clean and healthy is to institute single stream waste management, wherein each major category of waste is collected and processed separately.”

Anup Singh , a resident of Sector 17B, said that waste is being collected daily for the past month. “The situation has been improved now; we segregate waste before handing over to the collection vehicle. Earlier, people used to dump it in open as no one used to come to collect daily waste,” he said.