In a move that underscores a persistent failure to establish a permanent system, the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) has once again resorted to a temporary arrangement for the city's crucial door-to-door waste collection. The civic body has started a new process to hire four agencies—one for each of its zones—to manage doorstep garbage collection for a mere six months, beginning January 2026.
A Costly Cycle of Short-Term Fixes
This latest stopgap measure is projected to cost the corporation over Rs 12 crore. It comes nearly half a year after MCG's previous contract with a private firm for the same service expired. This scramble for temporary contractors has now stretched for more than 18 months, a cycle that began in June 2024 when MCG terminated its agreement with Ecogreen Energy due to poor performance.
The firm hired as a one-year replacement for Ecogreen also failed to deliver adequately, trapping the corporation in a pattern of short-term arrangements. Residents across the city report that this instability has led to inconsistent garbage collection and mounting waste problems in their neighborhoods.
Bureaucratic Delays Block Long-Term Solution
MCG officials acknowledge that the corporation is still awaiting a revised Request for Proposal (RFP) from the state's Urban Local Bodies (ULB) department. This document is essential to float a new, comprehensive tender for a sustainable, long-term waste collection system. Until that approval comes in writing, the city remains in operational limbo, forced to rely on yet another round of interim solutions.
"We haven't yet received any approvals from the ULB in writing," an MCG official stated. "After we receive a revised RFP from the ULB department, we will make a new proposal to hire agencies for doorstep waste collection and it will be a long-term project... Till that project takes off, we have to commence a temporary project so that the residents don't face any problem."
Residents Bear the Brunt of Accountability Gap
The repeated reliance on short-duration contracts has drawn sharp criticism from citizens and waste management experts. They argue that such brief tenures make the hired agencies less accountable, as no contractor will invest significantly in infrastructure or manpower for a six-month period.
"MCG has not learnt any lessons from past mistakes as it hires agencies which don't have adequate resources and experience," said Lalit Suraj Bhola, a resident of Sector 9A. He highlighted the ultimate burden falling on citizens: "It is ultimately the residents who have to make the arrangements and pay from their own pockets for the services which should have been provided by the civic body."
However, some see a cautious approach behind the delays. Gauri Sarin, founder of the citizen's group 'Making Model Gurugram', noted, "There is a lot of money at stake and the MCG cannot afford to go wrong now... There have been a lot of deliberations on the issue and the state govt has taken a lot of consultations this time before finalising the RFP, which shows a level of seriousness. There is also a fear of going wrong." She emphasized that better communication with residents is vital to clear the haze around the issue.
The scope of work for the soon-to-be-hired interim agencies includes collecting waste from households and transporting it to secondary waste collection points across Gurgaon. As the city waits for bureaucratic processes to conclude, its residents continue to navigate the uncertainties of a waste management system stuck in a temporary loop.
