Looking back 2023: Sanitation workers strike raised a stink in Gurugram

Sumedha Sharma

Gurugram, December 31

Gurugram and Nuh, the two districts of the state standing on different ends of the development horizon, were bound by a common notoriety this year: the Nuh clashes.

The only Muslim-dominated district in the state had been rendered as an epitome of communal harmony over half a century. However, communal clashes that erupted in the district this year left seven persons dead and residents scarred for their lives.

The violence spilling over to Gurugram was a major blow to the reputation of the popular IT hub. Although Gurugram is a potboiler of many cultures, the city had been simmering with communal under currents over open namaz and cow vigilantism for the past year or two.

The communal clashes highlighted the failure of the local police and authorities in maintaining law and order. Besides, the clashes triggered one of the biggest migrant exodus from the city after the Covid crises. The exodus, which started after local vigilantes threatened the Muslim migrants, led to a major service deficit.

While Gurugram residents were forced to plead to their maids and cab drivers to come back. Multinational companies declared work from home. It left a dent on many planned investments, said Gurugram MP Rao Inderjeet Singh.

However, on an optimistic note, the two districts saw the development of road infrastructure that is bound to change their fate. The opening of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway passing through Nuh has become one of the biggest achievements of the region.

Meanwhile, Gurugram also saw one of its worst sanitation crises. Failure of the MC in maintaining basic services and four strikes by sanitation workers in a year made netizens rechristen city as the ‘Kuda Gram’.

The latest strike that went on for over two months has turned various roads, empty plots, streets and green belts into garbage dumps.