‘We maintain parks well, can oversee sweeping’: Gurgaon RWAs seek speedy handover of sanitation duties from civic body

Residents alleged that current policies do not adequately address the garbage issues, leading residents to hire additional labour at their own expense. The existing policy only deals with the operation and maintenance of sanitation in sectors without specifying the number of labourers needed to be posted, said residents.

“For two years now, residents have been crying about this, but nothing has happened. We sent a representation, but the commissioner said there is no policy. When we have been maintaining parks, which are under the horticulture department, we can oversee sweeping, too, rather than let the situation slide further,” said Kusum Sharma, a Suncity RWA member.

Sharma added that the civic officials in power appear not to be concerned about the sanitation issue. “This is forcing us to hire workers separately at our own expense, and it is only because of proactive citizens that there is some level of cleanliness still.”

“Unless a policy is formulated to hand over sanitation services to RWAs, nothing will happen on the ground. Right now, the situation is pathetic, but we cannot keep waiting, so we have hired some workers on our own,” said Sector 45 RWA general secretary Puneet Pahwa.

Sector 57 RWA President Roshan Lal Yadav alleged that every month, lakhs of rupees sanctioned by the municipal corporation for sanitation are being wasted.

The garbage issue in Gurgaon has become a topic of discussion at a time when the city is set to host the national conference on urban local bodies on July 3 and 4 at Manesar.

After the RWAs decided to take over sanitation duties, several residents called for the handover process to be completed quickly. “We have seen from our experience that the municipal corporation is a complete failure when it comes to sanitation, and any work that ends up getting done is by RWAs only,” Ardee City RWA member Chaitali Mandhotra had said.

She also said that when the civic body promises to deploy about 25 sweepers in an area, only around 10 are actually hired and put to work.