Gurugram sanitation strike enters day 19, extended through August 26

Waste has collected at several points in Gurugram as the municipal sanitation workers’ strike entered its 19th day, with workers extending the action through August 26.

Workers are seeking regularisation of sanitation and sewer workers, an end to contract-based sanitation and sewerage work, recruitment to vacant posts, and wage and service benefits. They say the Haryana government has not acted on commitments made in a May 13 agreement.

On Monday, workers marched from the old MCG office through Agrasen Chowk, Session House Chowk, Mor Chowk and Aggarwal Dharamshala Chowk before returning to the corporation office. The unions plan to seek residents’ support on Tuesday and submit a memorandum to Badshapur MLA and Haryana cabinet minister Rao Narbir Singh at his Civil Lines residence.

The disruption has coincided with a wet spell that has flooded roads and pressured the city’s drainage network. Pawan Yadav, RWA president of Sushant Lok 2 and 3, said heavy rain can scatter roadside waste or carry it into drains. An MCG official said outsourced sanitation workers from private agencies have been deployed and described the workers’ demands as matters of state policy.