Waste mgmt struggle continues in Gurugram as legal battle complicates cleanup efforts
Heaps of garbage are once again piling up along the roadsides, in vacant plots and at vulnerable points throughout Gurugram city. This is occurring despite the Haryana Government invoking the Disaster Management Act, 2005, in June to declare the Solid Waste Environment Exigency Programme (SWEEP) for cleaning the city.
Municipal Corporation officials said clearing and managing the 1,200 metric tonnes of daily waste generated in Gurugram was a significant challenge. Meanwhile, residents are becoming increasingly frustrated as garbage piles up, creating an eyesore and emitting unpleasant odour in many areas.
The High Court of Punjab and Haryana has stayed the process of hiring four new agencies for door-to-door garbage collection, confirmed Akhilesh Kumar Yadav, Joint Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG). He added that the civic body would soon file an application in the High Court to vacate the stay.
Yadav noted that the MCG had already called for tenders to hire new agencies for all four zones, and the process of opening the tenders and issuing work orders was at its final stage. A petition was filed in the High Court by EcoGreen, a solid waste management agency, challenging the termination notice issued to it by the MCG on June 14.
After the MCG issued a new tender notice in September, EcoGreen argued that the civic body’s decision to hire new agencies would “definitely infringe upon its right to compete in the bid”.
Undoubtedly, the legal battle between the MCG and EcoGreen has, to some extent, affected the solid waste collection and management system in Gurugram.
Meanwhile, this correspondent visited several areas in Gurugram on Monday and observed that garbage was scattered along the roadsides, in vacant plots and in parking lots of markets. The worst situation was behind the Huda market in Sector 46, where garbage was left in the open despite the presence of a few garbage-lifting trolleys and dustbins intended to contain the waste.
Nitish Gupta, a resident of Sector 46, mentioned that he pays Rs 100 per month to Empire Enterprises, a garbage collection agency, but the workers do not come regularly to collect the garbage. Litter was seen scattered along a roadside near the police station in the Udyog Vihar area, just beneath a sign erected by the MCG warning, “Throwing garbage here is prohibited; if caught, you will be fined Rs 500.”
There were also reports of garbage is lying in the open in Basai, Sector 37, the industrial area of Sector 37C, the vacant green belt adjoining the Sector 10A market, parking areas of the Sector 56 market, Sector 45 (including the Kanhai village area), Sector 51, Sector 21 and market areas in Sectors 22, 23, and 32, among other locations.
Commissioner of MCG Dr Narhari Singh Banger has directed sanitation officials to ensure that garbage is not visible on the roads and in public spaces. The corporation will penalise bulk waste generators and private agencies responsible for garbage disposal, he said.
Additional Commissioner of the MCG Dr Balpreet Singh recently stated that CCTV cameras would soon be installed at all garbage-prone areas for e-monitoring to help keep the Gurugram City clean.
