Gurugram’s waste crisis casts shadow on Assembly elections

Tribune News Service

Gurugram, August 26

The waste management and sanitation crisis which have brought the Millennium City to its knees, overshadowing the Lok Sabha elections, is once again poised to haunt the upcoming Assembly elections in October. Despite the lofty promises made by BJP ministers and civic officials, the city continues to struggle with a solid waste emergency, with over 100 vulnerable points turning into illegal dumpyards.

The 20 secondary collection points in local villages also face irregular waste removal, effectively transforming Gurugram’s villages into dumpyards. The situation is even worse in areas like Manesar, Pataudi and Sohna, where garbage collection is inconsistent.

The Municipal Corporation Gurugram (MCG), which has been focusing on addressing the Bandhwari garbage mountain after receiving reprimands from the National Green Tribunal, is yet to control the sanitation crisis in the city. Many builder colonies and villages within city limits are facing a waste dumping crisis due to the lack of proper segregation and treatment facilities. The MCG has deployed trolleys to collect this waste and deter illegal dumping, but these efforts have been largely ineffective. While civic officials place their hopes on the forthcoming waste-to-energy plant, Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWAs) blame the collapse of basic sanitation infrastructure.

“What will a waste-to-energy plant achieve if sweeping, garbage collection and transportation are not sorted at the ground level? The city has been reeling under a waste management crisis for over two years now, and the situation is worsening. In some areas, it’s a problem of waste collection from homes; in others, it’s a lack of sweeping, and in many, it’s the illegal dumping of waste. Civic agencies keep coming up with Band-Aid solutions, but no concrete waste management plan has been made to date, which shows a lack of intent. Why should people even vote when, despite living in the Millennium City, they spend half the day dealing with waste crisis?” asked Praveen Yadav, president of the United Residents’ Welfare Associations of Gurugram.

“The civic authorities have failed to implement solid waste management rules. There is no talk of segregation or treatment. Not only are illegal dumping points proliferating, but even secondary waste points are becoming landfills due to irregular waste removal. This threatens the life and health of local villagers,” said Ruchika Sethi, a waste management activist from Gurugram.

The crisis in Gurugram is evident from the city’s failure to rank in the top 100 of the Swachh Survekshan 2023. While the MCG claims to have significantly reduced the height of the Bandhwari landfill, it is yet to find a location to dump and treat the 1,200 tonnes of waste produced daily. The corporation has repeatedly tried to secure a site along Dwarka Expressway, but residents have refused to allow another landfill. Notably, even the city’s own MP, BJP leader Rao Inderjit Singh, has raised the issue, threatening to stage a protest in December with residents and demanding a CBI inquiry against the state government over the garbage crisis. Civic officials have consistently blamed the former waste management concessionaire, ECO Green, for the mess, but Rao has questioned why the concessionaire was retained despite its poor performance over the last two years.

“It’s sheer collusion between contractors, officials and government machinery, and it needs a probe by a Central agency. The sanitation crisis marred the Lok Sabha elections, and despite this lesson, nothing concrete has been done to improve the situation ahead of the Vidhan Sabha elections,” says Rao.

All ticket probables from the ruling BJP have cited sanitation as a major crisis. BJP leader and ticket hopeful from Badshahpur, Rao Narbir Singh, has accused civic officials of laxity and appealed to people to choose him to hold officials accountable and get the city cleaned up.

‘Reeling under waste management crisis’

What will a waste-to-energy plant achieve if sweeping, garbage collection and transportation are not sorted at the ground level? The city has been reeling under a waste management crisis for over two years now, and the situation is worsening. — Praveen Yadav, president of the United Residents’ Welfare Associations of Gurugram.