Gurgaon civic body to track pickup fleet amid garbage van shortfall

Gurgaon: MCG will conduct a physical verification of all door-to-door garbage collection vehicles on May 15. The move follows concerns over discrepancies in the number of sanitation vehicles deployed across the city.

MCG commissioner Pradeep Dahiya issued the directions during a review meeting with civic officials on Wednesday, where sanitation operations, public complaints and other civic issues were discussed.

Officials informed the meeting that 343 vehicles were currently operational for door-to-door waste collection. Dahiya said, “During the recently held MCG House meeting, directions were issued to verify the actual number of these vehicles. Therefore, vehicles from all zones will be assembled at designated locations at 8am on May 15 for verification.”

The move comes days after TOI reported on May 6 that only 313 of the 400 vehicles mandated under MCG’s temporary waste collection contracts were available on the ground, leaving a shortfall of 87 vehicles. According to the report, four agencies were engaged by MCG earlier this year for six months to deploy 400 vehicles for door-to-door garbage collection from Jan 9 to July 8. Zone 1 had 90 vehicles available against the required 115, while Zone 4 had deployed 70 against the mandated 98 vehicles.

During Wednesday’s meeting, Dahiya also directed officials to remove encroachments from public toilets and improve cleanliness, lighting and other basic amenities at such facilities.

To improve monitoring of sanitation operations, Dahiya instructed officials to develop an online monitoring system for mechanised road-sweeping machines. Officials were asked to make information related to the functioning and live location of the machines available in the public domain to improve transparency and citizen oversight.

A zone-wise review of the sanitation security force was also conducted, and officials were directed to strengthen monitoring by the field teams. The progress of the “Nayi Soch-Naya Shahar, Swachh Haryana Abhiyan” campaign was also reviewed.

Dahiya further directed officials to ensure time-bound disposal of complaints received through Samadhan Shivirs and warned against negligence in resolving public grievances. He said the civic body was working towards making the city cleaner and better equipped with civic amenities, and stressed coordination among departments for faster implementation of civic works.