Gurgaon: Mounting piles of uncollected waste, putrid smell and unswept roads — residents across the city are asking when they will get freedom from “this mess”.As the city celebrates Independence Day, several residential areas are staring at the pile of garbage across the city with MCG sanitation workers’ strike entering its ninth day.Around 2,800 MCG sanitation workers are currently on strike, according to the workers’ union.The crisis has been aggravated by the monsoon, with rainwater mixing with accumulated waste and turning roads and vacant plots into foul-smelling, unhygienic dumping grounds.The employees, protesting under the banner of the Haryana Sarv Karamchari Sangh, have extended their agitation until Saturday.Their demands include regularisation, an end to outsourcing of sanitation and sewerage work, recruitment against vacant posts and implementation of the old pension scheme. The union says several of these demands were part of a settlement reached with govt in May but have not been implemented.But for residents, the latest strike is only the most visible symptom of a much deeper civic failure: Why does the city’s sanitation system repeatedly collapse whenever workers stop work?In Sector 23A, residents said they had seen virtually no sweeping for nine days.Bhawani Shankar Tripathy, a resident of Sector 23A, said, “The sanitation situation is extremely pathetic and hazardous. Rainwater has mixed with garbage dumped on sector roads and vacant plots, making the waste even more foul-smelling and unhygienic. There has been virtually no sweeping for the past nine days.”Tripathy questioned why such strikes have become a recurring feature of the city’s civic life. “Why are these strikes happening so frequently? Why has the MCG failed to find a lasting solution? And even when there is no strike, workers often do not appear to be working effectively. The question I would like MCG to answer this Independence Day is simple: When will residents get freedom from garbage?” he asked.Residents said on the occasion of I-Day celebrations, MCG officials and councillors should take a pledge to clear garbage within a week from the city. Residents of Surya Vihar said the problem is equally acute around their colony.“Instead of merely attending Independence Day celebrations, MCG officials and councillors should take a pledge to make city garbage-free and clear the accumulated waste across the city within a week. That would be a more meaningful demonstration of their commitment to the people they serve,” Rajesh Gera, a resident, said, adding, “There is garbage dumped on both sides of our colony gate and the stench has become unbearable. On the road from Kapashera towards NH8, MCG has not even deployed sweepers despite repeated complaints.”He said residents were increasingly frustrated by what he described as a cycle of strikes followed by inadequate attendance. “Half the time sanitation workers are on strike and, according to residents, much of the remaining time there is inadequate attendance or supervision,” he added.MCG joint commissioner for Swachh Bharat Mission Preet Pal Singh told TOI, “We have asked the private agencies to lift waste from the roads and public places since the sanitation workers are on strike. However, the workers on strike also obstruct the working of private sanitation workers. We are trying to engage private workers to clear waste from the city.”Residents said MCG appears to have neither an effective contingency mechanism nor adequate accountability to ensure that roads remain clean during industrial disputes.The criticism is particularly sharp because sanitation is among the most basic responsibilities of a municipal corporation.Chaitali Mandhotra, a resident of Ardee City, told TOI, “The problem is that when workers go on strike, sanitation stops. Even after the strike, there are concerns about attendance and regularity. Residents were left with little choice but to ask the RWA to arrange the services. Sanitation is one of the most fundamental responsibilities of a municipal corporation. If residents have to hire workers and vehicles themselves to keep their neighbourhood clean, what exactly are they paying the municipal corporation for?”In Ardee City, residents said the sanitation crisis has gone beyond inconvenience and forced them to effectively arrange civic services themselves. “We have been managing sweeping and waste collection ourselves since our colony was taken over by the MCG in July 2022 because the corporation has repeatedly failed to provide reliable sanitation services,” Mandhotra added.The strike has coincided with the monsoon, when accumulated waste can mix with stagnant rainwater, worsening odour and creating additional sanitation concerns.
