With garbage everywhere, Gurugram stinks: What's going on?

Gurugram is choking, and this time, it’s not just the traffic. It’s the trash.

Over the past few weeks, mounds of garbage have started piling up across the city, spilling over onto footpaths, roads, and even upscale neighbourhoods. From Golf Course Extension Road to Southern Peripheral Road, the stench of uncollected waste hangs heavy in the air. It is hard to miss, and becoming even harder to ignore.

Locals are angry, civic activists are demanding accountability, and experts say this full-blown waste crisis was years in the making. So what exactly is going on in one of India’s most high-profile cities? We take a closer look

Gurugram’s messy situation

Across several parts of the city, residents say their daily routines have been turned upside down. Car cleaners, house helpers, and garbage collectors have stopped showing up for work,  leaving many societies to fend for themselves.

The reason? A large number of these workers, many of them migrant labourers from Bengal and Assam, have reportedly fled Gurugram and returned to their villages in fear.

According to a report by Hindustan Times, the panic began after a verification drive by Gurugram Police, which allegedly involved random checks, detentions, and threats of deportation.

Between July 13 and 21, nearly 100 people, mostly working as domestic staff or sanitation workers, were reportedly picked up by the police. Some were later released but allegedly instructed to board trains back to Assam.

“They were not even allowed to go home and fetch their Aadhaar cards. The police just dragged them into vans,” a relative of 45-year-old garbage collector Anwar Hussain told HT, adding that some of his family members were among those detained.

Residents in areas like Sectors 69 and 70 say workers who had been living and working in Gurugram for years have either left or are preparing to leave, with many heading back to West Bengal or Assam.

So far, police have refused to disclose the locations of the four holding centres or the number of individuals currently detained or deported, citing security reasons.

The impact on the city’s sanitation services has been immediate and severe. Gurugram’s door-to-door waste collection system, which heavily depends on these informal workers subcontracted by the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), has virtually collapsed in several neighbourhoods.

Even MCG officials have acknowledged the disruption. “Most of the drivers and waste collectors are migratory workers, and their going away will affect our operations. We’re working with senior officials and the chief minister to find alternatives and minimise disruption,” MCG commissioner Pradeep Dahiya told the outlet.

The collapse years in the making

While the current crisis may have been triggered by a sudden exodus of workers, experts and civic activists say the writing had been on the wall for years.

“This is not a sudden crisis,” waste management expert Kusum Sharma told Hindustan Times. “This is a collapse years in the making. Had MCG followed Solid Waste Management (SWM) norms—created dry waste centres, enforced source segregation, and integrated informal workers—this situation could have been averted. Now, the city is entirely dependent on a workforce that is being criminalised.”

Activists argue that the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has consistently ignored its responsibility under the SWM Rules, 2016. The rules call for source segregation, decentralised waste processing, and formal integration of waste workers, none of which have been properly implemented in the city.

“Gurgaon’s waste services have catastrophically failed,” Ruchika Sethi Takkar, founder of Citizens for Clean Air told the outlet. “MCG’s disregard for SWM Rules 2016 and failure to institutionalise waste workers has brought the system to its knees.”

Takkar added that citizen groups have already submitted a representation to the MCG and the deputy commissioner, urging an emergency plan to tackle the garbage crisis. The demands include setting up temporary dry waste depots, putting out immediate public advisories, and arranging interim waste collection services.

Meanwhile, citizens continue to raise alarms. Residents have taken to social media to post videos and pictures of overflowing garbage bins, uncollected waste rotting in corners, and stray dogs and cows feeding on the filth.

Will a Rs 400 crore waste collection tender save Gurugram?

As the garbage crisis in Gurugram escalates, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has finally received clearance to float a massive Rs 402 crore tender for door-to-door waste collection, according to a Hindustan Times report.

This tender is part of a long-overdue revamp of the city’s broken waste management system. Bidding is expected to begin Wednesday.

According to officials, each selected agency will have 21 days to submit applications and start operations in their designated zones by December 1. They’ve also been given a 90-day boarding period to prepare for the rollout.

On paper, it sounds promising. But not everyone is convinced.

Rahul Khera, a Sector 54 resident and social sector expert, pointed out that the plan still depends entirely on migrant workers.

“Regardless of who’s collecting the waste, it’s migrant labour doing the job. They make up 100 per cent of the city’s frontline waste workforce. If they leave, this city will shut down,” he said.

Khera welcomed reforms but criticised the current tactics, especially the fear-driven police checks. “Even immigrants with valid documentation are afraid. This isn’t governance — it’s fear mongering.”

With input from agencies