Gurgaon: Sanitation services in the city are likely to remain disrupted as the workers’ strike entered its 27th day on Tuesday, with protesting MCG employees burning an effigy of chief minister Nayab Singh Saini at Agrasen Chowk on Old Railway Road.Municipal Employees Union, Haryana, is set to decide its next course of action on Wednesday after alleging that its delegation was mistreated during a meeting with officials of urban local bodies (ULB) department on Monday.“We had a meeting with the ULB department officials in Panchkula on Monday. However, their behaviour towards us was uncalled for. We will decide on the further course of action on Wednesday before 2pm. We are being compelled to go on an indefinite stir,” said MCG Employees’ Union president Basant Kumar.The union also criticised urban local bodies minister Vipul Goel and social justice and empowerment minister Krishan Bedi, alleging that assurances of talks have not resulted in a settlement.The union’s protest comes amid mounting garbage across the city, with Sadar market, Sikanderpur, Old Delhi-Gurgaon Road and Golf Course Extension Road among the affected areas.For residents, the ongoing agitation has wider civic implications, as sanitation and garbage collection are essential public services. “There is persistent garbage dumping, a terrible stench and an extremely unkempt appearance along the portion of Delhi-Mumbai Expressway just in front of Islampur village. The situation is particularly bad around the underpass just before Subhash Chowk, where garbage is dumped almost round the clock,” said a resident of JMD Gardens, Archana Gulati.MCG officials said a policy decision on the workers’ demands will be taken by the state govt, while the civic body was deploying outsourced workers to clear accumulated waste.The union’s key demands include ending the contractual system in sanitation and sewer work, filling vacant regular posts and resolving the issue of regularisation of contractual municipal and fire employees. It has also accused the govt of using police deployment against striking workers and resorting to alternative arrangements instead of addressing its demands.
