MCG to add 500 dustbins across Gurugram, residents call it ‘eyesore’

Twin-dustbins, usually colored blue and green, are placed together to encourage the public to separate dry and wet waste. The city currently has 400 such bins.

Gurugram: The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) is set to install 500 new twin-dustbins and replace the damaged ones across the city under its “intensive sanitation drive”, officials said on Saturday.

Most of these dustbins are installed near markets, metro stations, community centres, parks, on 18-meter roads and in peri-urban areas.

They added that a tender for about ₹56 lakh has been floated for this work.

Twin-dustbins, usually colored blue and green, are placed together to encourage the public to separate dry and wet waste. The city currently has 400 such bins.

Sundar Sheoran, executive engineer at MCG, said the new project aims to install additional dustbins and replace damaged ones across the city.

Most of these dustbins are installed near markets, metro stations, community centres, parks, on 18-meter roads and in peri-urban areas.

However, residents and environmentalists have flagged irregular garbage collection from community dustbins, calling it not only an “eyesore” but also a serious environmental and public health hazard.

Ruchika Sethi, an environmentalist, said that the purpose of installing dustbins is defeated without timely garbage collection. “Across the city, many dumpsters are left unattended by MCG workers, with waste lying uncollected for weeks. This has only added to the sanitation woes,” Sethi claimed.

“MCG needs an integrated approach. It should use the collection and transportation (C&T) model, which requires timely garbage collection from households and community bins. And then timely transfer of the garbage to recycling units or secondary collection points (SCPs). However, they are failing miserably,” she added.

Residents also shared that the community dustbins also lack maintenance. “Dustbins are located in our sector markets and near community parks and centres. They are never cleaned. Flies and mosquitoes hover around them, and there is a constant foul stench,” said Savita Devi, a resident of Sector 46.

Puneet Pahwa, general secretary of the Sector 45 residents’ welfare association (RWA), also shared similar sentiments. “Many dustbins are broken or kept upside down near the roadside. We have stopped encouraging community dustbins because there is no timely pickup of the garbage. It just becomes an eyesore, with litter spilling onto the surrounding areas,” he said.

Meanwhile, Devendra Bishnoi, senior sanitation inspector at MCG, said that waste from community dustbins is collected by the same teams engaged in door-to-door collection. “It is a routine process that is required to be followed regularly,” he said.

Another official, requesting anonymity, said the city is also facing issues with door-to-door waste collection. He added that once the tender for door-to-door collection is floated, the mechanism will be strengthened for the next five years.