MCG lifts garbage from several city areas in presence of police

Officials collected garbage from across Gurugram under police presence despite protests from sanitation workers. MCG joint commissioner Naresh Kumar said that the protesters are trying to create issues for workers who are removing garbage from residential areas and streets. The workers are protesting against low wages and lack of job security.

Gurugram: A day after the deputy commissioner imposed Section 144 in Gurugram, prohibiting the assembly of over four persons due to the ongoing tussle between the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) and sanitation workers, officials got garbage collected from across the city in the presence of police on Thursday.

Gurugram, India-June 01, 2023: The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) will get the outsourced sweepers to remove the garbage spread on the Khandsa road near Rajesh Khurana park, in Gurugram, India, on Thursday, 01 June 2023. (Photo by Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)(Pic to go with Leena Dhankar's story)

The protesting sanitation workers did not allow the teams to collect waste from at least four locations, said officials.

Officials said four MCG joint commissioners were deployed in the field and had identified areas that required attention and removal of waste. The protesters had threatened the MCG with dire consequences if they tried to clean the streets and pick up waste from secondary points.

MCG joint commissioner Naresh Kumar said the protesters are trying to create issues for workers who are removing garbage from residential areas and streets. “They tried to disrupt work and threatened workers. We have complained to police and a case has been registered against a group of protesters at Shivaji Nagar police station on Thursday,” he said.

Kumar said their aim is to keep the city clean and ensure that garbage is picked from all locations so that residents do not face any kind of inconvenience. “The union members of the safai karmacharis are opposing the cleanliness drive and tried to obstruct the garbage collection work. We have sought police help and teams have been deployed with our staff for their safety and to maintain law and order,” he said.

On Thursday, all the joint commissioners, senior sanitary inspectors, sanitary inspectors and assistant sanitary inspectors of the MCG started clearing garbage from their respective areas. Garbage lying in different areas was collected with the help of cranes, tractor-trolleys and dumpers, said officials.

However, in areas such as Bhuteshwar Chowk, Wazirabad, Kataria Chowk and Kanhaiyee, the representatives of the Safai Karamchari Union tried to obstruct the garbage collection work. MCG officials said that the concerned duty magistrate reached the spot along with a police force and efforts were made to ensure the cleaning work was not affected.

MCG officials said that due to the ongoing strike by the workers for the last several days, garbage had spread at many places across the city and the sanitation system was severely affected. In order to improve the situation, the work of cleaning, including garbage lifting, is being done by the MCG under alternative arrangements.

MCG commissioner PC Meena said that they will not tolerate any nuisance and will not let the streets stink due to the ongoing strike. “We have made elaborate arrangements for waste collection and cleaning of the streets. Action will be initiated against people who disrupt our work,” he said.

Naresh Malkat, state secretary of the Nagar Palika Karamchari Sangh, said that they will continue to protest and will not let the MCG staff lift garbage. “We will continue to disrupt the lifting of garbage and cleaning of streets; else no one will pay attention to our demands. We will start protesting on the streets and will sit on a hunger strike later this week if the situation remains the same,” he said.