Gurugram first city in India to remain under waste emergency for over a year

Despite spending nearly Rs 300 crore on sanitation in the past year, Gurugram has become the first city in the country to remain under a solid waste exigency for over a year. As the city enters the second year of its Solid Waste Environment Exigency Programme (SWEEP), some superficial improvements are visible, but core sanitation issues continue to persist.

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Need at least five months more

The city’s core sanitation issues require time and dedicated efforts to resolve... We need at least five months to achieve success in dealing with the source of the crisis. The city will be out of its exigency mode in the next few months.

— Pradeep Dahiya, MCG Commissioner

With more than 250 illegal dumping spots, an average of 70 waste fires each month, and unregulated doorstep garbage pickup in over 60% of the city, Gurugram remains in crisis mode. The SWEEP initiative, launched in June 2024 in response to mounting waste mismanagement, had promised significant changes within months, but residents say those promises remain largely unfulfilled.

“We don’t see much change at the ground level. When this exigency was announced, we thought the state had finally taken sanitation seriously. But waste is still being dumped at the same spots and regulated door-to-door collection is still a fight. Bandhwari landfill remains an unresolved crisis,” said Praveen Yadav, president of the United Gurugram RWAs.

“Yes, over the past few months, complaints are heard more quickly and some waste is lifted on time. But these are just band-aid solutions. The core crisis is still untouched,” he added.

Waste fires remain another pressing issue. “While Gurugram has struggled with unsanitary conditions from open dumping and burning for years, the situation remains grim even a year after the ‘waste exigency’ was declared,” said Ruchika Sethi Takkar, founder-member of civil society groups ‘Why Waste Your Waste’ and ‘Clean Air Bharat’.

“This year alone, we’ve seen seven major landfill fires and over two dozen open waste fires — often at the same locations. Reviewing fire station logs and citizen complaints would show the scale of the crisis. Dumping is rampant, ward villages are in squalor and industrial waste burning continues unchecked. Just adding more garbage trucks isn’t waste management. If the 26 provisions under Section 15 of the SWM Rules 2016 had been implemented properly, residents would have seen real relief,” she said.