Gurugram sanitation workers now target road sweeping machines

Sumedha Sharma

Gurugram, October 28

Sanitation workers, who are on an indefinite strike since October 19, have now started targeting the road sweeping machines of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) to obstruct the authorities from clearing the 1,500 tonne of garbage that has piled up in the city.

To keep away protesters, police control room (PCR) vehicles have been deployed with all sweeping machine. The MCG owns 11 such vehicles. These vehicles will be accompanied by PCR vehicles while carrying out their operations in the night.

The protesters are also allegedly obstructing and manhandling MCG teams, led by joint commissioners and include the regular civic body staff, in many areas, especially in old Gurugram.

Earlier, they were targeting the employees of private concessionaire EcoGreen, which had been employed by the MCG to collect garbage. The EcoGreen staff has now got police protection.

MCG Joint Commissioner Naresh Kumar said the authorities had cleared over 500 tonne garbage but the civic body teams were under constant threat.

“The protesters are not just targeting the workers but also the machines. They are trying to damage these so that we cannot clear the garbage. We have now got PCR vehicles to guard the road sweeping machines. The protesters are getting aggressive with each passing day,” Naresh Kumar said.

Meanwhile, garbage collection was obstructed even from houses in many areas of old Gurugram as the protesters did not allow the vehicles to ply. The police have virtually put entire force on roads to deal with matter.

The protesters are also dumping garbage daily on roads, especially during nights, but the practice has been curtailed in majority of areas after police crackdown.

Various unions of sanitation workers under the banner of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions are on strike after the authorities failed to meet their demands, including regularisation of jobs.