Sonipat: Protesting sanitation workers lay down in front of bulldozers on Tuesday, forcing this Haryana city's municipal corporation to abort a police-backed attempt to clear rotting heaps of rubbish from city streets.
The escalation turned the municipal office into a battlefield, as the administration sought to break a prolonged strike that has left the city reeling under foul odors and unhygienic conditions.
Heavy police deployment and barricades around Railway Road failed to deter the agitators, though the measures caused gridlock for commuters and railway passengers. When heavy machinery arrived to clear the garbage accumulated outside the civic headquarters, employees threw themselves in front of the wheels, chanting slogans against the administration.
The workers, later, intercepted cleaning crews near the city bus stand and Geeta Bhawan, shutting down all sanitation operations. The sanitation worker union, led by Bharat, demands the regularisation of contractual staff and a minimum monthly salary of ₹30,000 for door-to-door workers.
Other core demands include absorption of outsourced workers into the departmental roll, resolution of pending grievances for fire brigade personnel, and compensation for families of workers who die on duty. "The administration tried to suppress us with threats of arrest," Bharat said. "Instead, we offered ourselves for mass arrest, which forced the police to retreat."
Political Fallout
The agitation has taken political colours with a display of banners criticising the BJP and mayoral candidate Rajiv Jain. The tension follows a chaotic Monday, where workers dumped refuse outside the municipal commissioner's office, forcing the official to abandon his vehicle and enter the building on foot.
As the strike enters its next phase, the corporation remains unable to restore basic sanitation services despite multiple attempts to bypass the picket lines.
