Gurgaon: A rapid sanitation audit by Chief Minister’s Good Governance Associates (CMGGA) has laid bare lapses in cleanliness and waste management in Haryana’s two major cities — Gurgaon and Faridabad — which are in the ‘needs attention’ bracket. The two cities scored a meagre 4.5 out of 10, placing them among the poorest performers. The survey that came ahead of the Swachh Survekshan survey in the city, evaluted districts on a scale of 0 to 10. Those with scores between 0 and 4.5 were placed in the ‘needs attention’ bracket. Districts scoring between 5 and 6 were classified as ‘average’, while the districts with scores between 6.5 and 10 were placed in the ‘good’ bracket.Launched in 2016, the CMGGA aims to improve governance in the state by ensuring high-priority citizen-centric schemes are implemented at the grassroots level. The solid waste management (SWM) feedback survey, conducted on Feb 11–12 across 23 districts, inspected markets, wards, public toilets and bus stands against eight sanitation indicators.Karnal led the rankings with a score of 7.5, earning a ‘good’ rating. Rohtak and Hisar followed with 7 points each, also graded ‘good’. Ambala, Kaithal, Panchkula and Bhiwani scored 6.5, remaining in the same category. Near the bottom, the contrast sharpened. While Charkhi Dadri fell further to 2.5, Nuh ranked last with a stark 0.5.The eight parameters covered in the audit included visible cleanliness, door-to-door waste collection and segregation, waste processing and disposal, access and usage of toilets, drainage management, sanitation worker welfare, IEC (information, education and communication) awareness, and ULB leadership and monitoring.“We plan to focus on all parameters considered in the survey. Moreover, we established a sanitation monitoring cell today (Friday) to further strengthen our performance,” said MCG commissioner Pradeep Dahiya.The report also highlights a significant personnel shortage in Gurgaon’s sanitation administration, one of the steepest gaps recorded in the state. Currently, only 41 of the 83 sanctioned supervisory posts are filled, resulting in a 51% vacancy rate. This shortfall has left critical roles in inspection, monitoring, and enforcement vacant.CMGGA took into account posts including chief sanitation inspectors, sanitation inspectors, assistant sanitation inspectors, supervisors and darogas for human resource mapping. In Faridabad, 90 posts are sanctioned, of which 66 are filled.Statewide, the average shortfall stands at 30%, but the report states that even larger municipal corporations, which are expected to have stronger administrative capacity, face significant deficits. Karnal, the top performer, has only 19 sanctioned posts but exceeded this number, with 62 positions filled. Palwal has 8 sanctioned posts but 10 filled, while Rewari filled all 10 of its posts. In contrast, Panchkula has 77 posts, of which 54 are filled.Internal findings are unusually candid, directly blaming sanitation failures on manpower shortages that cause weak enforcement and “unchecked field activities.” The report also flags widespread “paper compliance”: ward committees, waste-free declarations, and processing systems that formally exist on paper but are non-functional on the ground. Compounding this, several districts lack ward-wise vehicle mapping and rely on unscientific resource estimates.The report highlighted that payments to private waste-collection vendors should be based on actual deployment to curb inflated billing and absenteeism.The CMGGA has outlined a four-week corrective plan for urban local bodies, focusing on streamlining door-to-door waste collection by April 10, holding ward reviews with the CM by March 20, a statewide drain-cleaning drive from April 15–30, and staffing proposals. The survey also revealed officials’ limited awareness of its toolkit, highlighting the need for internal awareness and orientation exercises.
