GURGAON: With heaps of trash mounting along citys roads as the deadlock between striking sanitation workers and MCG continues, many are resorting to burning this waste as the only option to clear it out.This is despite a complete ban on open waste burning as it adds to air pollution at a time when the city is already enveloped with toxic smog.Residents said that people are indiscriminately burning wastein areas such as Sarai Alawardi, Jacobpura and Adarsh Nagar in Sector 12.On Thursday, MCG sent teams to these spots to douse the fires.TOI reported on Wednesday about piles of garbage festering at multiple spots as hundreds of sanitation workers have been on an indefinite strike since October – their fourth protest this year – to demand regularlisation of jobs.There is a huge dumping ground in Sarai village just ahead of the Palam Vihar road. I was passing through the area when I saw plumes of smoke. People are setting it ablaze as this waste is becoming unmanageable, said Bharat Sharma, a resident of Sector 104 and a swachhta ambassador for the administration.Traders in Jacobpura and Sadar Bazar said even the small garbage dumps were being burnt frequently because waste collection and transportation services were hit.We are seeing a lot of small fires as waste is piled up in busy markets and in residential areas. Fires have been reported at some of the undesignated secondary collection points too. This hugely impacts air quality, said Ruchika Sethi Takkar, founder of citizens initiative Why Waste Your Waste?Takkar said she has written to MCG multiple times, and the latest one was sent on Wednesday. The corporation needs to implement a municipal ward resource recovery plan as a permanent solution, she added.Residents said erratic collection service was also forcing many households to dump their waste in open areas. For example, in the housing board colony of Sector 7, collection happens only once a week, said Chaitali Mandhotra, a resident of Ardee City and member of United Gurgaon RWA.On Thursday, piles of trash were seen in Ghata and lined the Southern Peripheral Road (SPR). A secondary waste collection point at Sikanderpur, just ahead of the Guru Dronacharya metro station, was also overflowing with waste. Trucks were stationed at the site, but garbage was not lifted.Asked about waste burning, MCG officials said they are acting as soon as they get information about any incident. Our teams keep a check on the ground and as soon as we are informed, our teams are sent to douse the fire. We are also issuing challans for waste burning since it is banned under GRAP. In case there is a massive fire, the fire department sends their fire-fighting vehicles, said an MCG official.GRAP, or the Graded Response Action Plan, came into effect this October to curb air pollution in Delhi-NCR.MCG officials said half of the workers who were on the strike have reported back for duty. Around 1,200 tonnes of garbage was lifted from the citys roads on Thursday, and a total of 6,600 tonnes of waste has been cleared since December 1. Some of the areas from where garbage was picked up were Rosewood City, Sushant Lok-1, Kherki Daula, Old Railway road, Mohammadpur Jharsa, New Colony, Begumpur Khatola and sectors 9A, 31, 37D, 56, 57 and 62. Protesting sanitation workers said they will stay put until their demands are met. MCG officials have still not approached us for a fresh round of talks. Our demand is that the government or MCG should take back our sanitation workers, who were left jobless due to the new contract with new agencies in November last year, said Vasant Kumar of the Haryana Nagarpalika Karmachari Sangh.

Stay updated with all the Latest Gurgaon headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.