150 Societies Protest GCER Malba Dumping

GURUGRAM: Residents from more than 150 housing societies along Golf Course Extension Road marched on Sunday against alleged dumping of construction and demolition waste, or malba, saying stretches of the corridor had been reduced to an urban slum and demanding time-bound clearance and CCTV watch at chronic dumping spots.

The march began at the IFC Chowk signal on the extension road. Placards were carried by residents from societies including Close North, Unitech Escape, Nirvana societies, Palm Drive, Tattvam Villas, Rosewood City, Emaar Emerald Hills, South Close, Palm Terraces, The Legend, Lilac, Emaar Enclave, Central Park Resorts, Vatika City and South City 2, along with residents of Sectors 7 and 56, among others. Protesters also gathered opposite the IFC building and raised slogans against civic agencies, saying temporary measures and mutual blame among departments were no longer acceptable.

Gauri Sarin, who has been leading citizen campaigns including Make My Gurugram and Graded Response Action Plan efforts, said Gurugram deserved development that creates a better city, not one where garbage and construction waste become part of the urban landscape. She said authorities could not keep shifting malba dumping points from one stretch to another and call it a solution. She also said residents pay taxes, follow regulations and contribute to the economy, and in return want systematic waste handling, drains that work and public spaces that stay clean and safe. Another protester, identified as Khusbhu, said lack of coordination among government agencies had brought the city to its present state and that citizens wanted tangible change on the ground.

Residents submitted a formal petition to the Municipal Commissioner, the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority, the district administration, the Department of Urban Local Bodies and the Haryana State Pollution Control Board. The petition sought round-the-clock CCTV at dumping hotspots, clearance of existing piles on a fixed timeline, and periodic action-taken reports so complainants could track whether work was actually done. It warned that potholes, dust, sewage overflow, garbage and encroachment had become a living nightmare and asked for accountability through named officers and hard deadlines rather than announcements alone.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram responded on its social media handle, saying the site being referred to was being used as a Secondary Collection Centre and that the concerned team had been directed to manage and maintain the site in a better and more organised manner. Official data cited in public reporting puts daily C and D waste generation in the city at more than 1,000 tonnes, against a lone processing facility rated at about 300 tonnes. Residents say the gap has fed unauthorised dumping along the extension road, the Gurugram-Faridabad Road and pockets of the Aravallis.

Sunday's march sits against years of stop-start doorstep C and D collection arrangements and repeated tender cycles. Protesters said they want MCG and GMDA to stop shifting responsibility and sit together on a coordinated clean-up and enforcement plan. Civic agencies have not announced a fresh citywide clearance calendar in response to the petition beyond the Secondary Collection Centre note.