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Indian Express
5 days ago
- General
- Indian Express
‘Like Covid all over again': Gurgaon RWAs stare at sanitation crisis after crackdown fears drive migrants away
As Bengali-speaking migrant workers leave the city following reports of several being picked up during the Gurgaon Police's verification drive to identify suspected foreigners, housing societies that depended on them for sanitation services are struggling. 'We had six to seven door-to-door collectors… They spoke Bengali and had all the documents. Out of fear, they have stopped coming for the past 8-10 days; some have headed home. We are now struggling to train the new staff we had to hire, to get garbage cleared on time. It is like Covid all over again,' said Kusum Sharma, a Residents' Welfare Association (RWA) member of Suncity township in Sector 54 along the Golf Course Road. 'This arrangement has been in place for six years. Why was this sudden crackdown carried out without putting in place alternative measures?' she added. 'Even domestic help are scared to come to work now.' The situation is similar in Sector 23A. RWA General Secretary Bhawani Shankar Tripathy said door-to-door waste collection has been disrupted for more than a week now. 'The day the police operation began, they (workers) disappeared. The cart operators, who were Bengali speaking, are gone… the one remaining vehicle operator is overwhelmed and effectively works on alternate days now… Waste is piling up in vacant plots and greenbelt areas.' Road sweeping has also taken a hit, he added. 'The staff, reduced from 27 to 20 after a contract renewal, now comprises only two women. It is humanly impossible for two people to clean 2 km every day. They manage only 300-500m daily, alternating sections. Even the park dustbins are overflowing now, as people have started dumping their waste there.' RWAs like Ardee City in Sector 52, which house 2,500 families, have arranged for their own pickup truck with four new workers. 'Our 12 earlier door-to-door collectors have fled. We have now invested in a public announcement system, and coordinate through WhatsApp as to when the truck reaches a lane so people can come to give the garbage,' said Chaitali Mandhotra, Ardee City RWA member. Speaking with The Indian Express, Municipal Corporation of Gurugram Commissioner Pradeep Dahiya acknowledged that sanitation operations in some areas had initially been affected. 'We have been swiftly deploying alternative arrangements (in terms of workforce) that were already in place. The issue is being faced by those sectors that had arrangements with private players who would employ (migrant workers) from the informal sector,' he said.
Time of India
12-07-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
Cracks to craters: Roads come undone in monsoon's first downpour in Gurgaon
Gurgaon: A single spell of heavy rain was enough to lay bare the brittle condition of roads in several parts of the city, including Sector 23, 23A, and the stretch between Rezang La Chowk and Krishna Chowk. Cracked surfaces, exposed gravel, and water-filled potholes resurfaced, despite GMDA's earlier claim that it undertook repairs on 95km of road network across the city before monsoon. The stretch from Rezang La Chowk to Krishna Chowk was dotted with potholes. Sector 23 and 23A, too, saw their roads give way after just one downpour. At the receiving end of the civic apathy were the commuters, who slammed GMDA for poor planning and shoddy quality of road work. You Can Also Check: Gurgaon AQI | Weather in Gurgaon | Bank Holidays in Gurgaon | Public Holidays in Gurgaon In Dec 2024, GMDA sanctioned Rs 24.7 crore for special repairs of the master road dividing Sector 23 and 23A, but within less than two weeks of being recarpeted, the road had potholes and the stretch turned into a traffic bottleneck. "The road was partially repaired a fortnight ago, but it's already crumbling. Asphalt is coming off in chunks. The repairs were nothing but an eyewash," said Bhawani Shankar Tripathy, vice president of Sector 23A RWA."We expected GMDA to do a better job than MCG, but what we are witnessing on Sushil Aima Marg is disappointing. GMDA contractors' workmanship is as bad as MCG's," said another resident. "Authorities just do cosmetic repairs. The roads look fine for a few days, but one heavy rain washes everything away. The stretch near Manipal Hospital has numerous potholes, no one will believe that it was recarpeted recently," said Rajeev Malik, a resident of Palam Vihar, who commutes daily through Krishna Chowk. The condition is similar in Sector 9 and 9A, where the freshly laid bitumen is coming off. "The road was recarpeted last month after two years. It is sad to see it damaged already. GMDA spent so much on road carpeting but did not include provisions for adequate drainage, resulting in damage and consequent congestion on the road. This is not repair; it's a cover-up," said Lalit Suraj Bhola, general secretary of Sector 9A. Moreover, the master road dividing Sectors 69 and 70, which was recarpeted three months ago, is also damaged. "The potholes have reappeared exactly where they always do — near the junction of the road with SPR. If a road can't last even one monsoon, what kind of durability are we talking about?" said Ajay Sharma, a resident of Tulip Ivory. According to a senior GMDA official, the contractors concerned were directed to carry out repair works on damaged stretches. Meanwhile, GMDA has also issued a notice to its executing agency, noting that it started work on roads connecting sectors 23 and 23A and 9 and 9A much later than the scheduled date and has made "extremely slow" progress. The work that was completed is "wearing out" and potholes are appearing, the notice read.
