In one of its biggest sanitation initiatives to date, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has prepared a five-year roadmap to overhaul the city’s cleaning system, proposing an expenditure of nearly Rs 450 crore on mechanised road sweeping, dedicated cleaning equipment and a strengthened sanitation workforce.
The ambitious plan aims to make Gurugram’s roads and narrow lanes virtually dust-free while addressing one of the city’s most persistent civic complaints—poor cleanliness and roadside dust.
The proposal has been sent to the Haryana government for approval, following which the civic body plans to begin the tendering process. Officials believe the long-term contract model will ensure continuity in sanitation services and encourage private agencies to invest in modern machinery instead of relying on temporary arrangements.
Unlike the current system, where cleaning contracts are awarded for short durations, the new plan envisions a stable five-year arrangement that will require contractors to deploy advanced equipment complying with environmental norms. Officials say the move is expected to significantly improve the quality and consistency of sanitation across the city while also helping reduce dust pollution.
A key feature of the project is the deployment of 72 modern road-sweeping machines, the first such large-scale mechanised cleaning initiative undertaken by the MCG. Of these, 30 large machines will clean major arterial roads, while medium-sized machines will cover secondary roads. For the city’s congested residential colonies and narrow lanes—areas where conventional sweeping vehicles cannot operate—the corporation plans to introduce small road-sweeping machines capable of accessing internal streets.
The initiative seeks to solve a long-standing challenge in Gurugram, where dust often accumulates along road edges and inside residential colonies because existing machines are unable to reach these locations. Officials expect the new fleet to substantially improve cleanliness in areas that have remained difficult to maintain.
To complement mechanised cleaning, the MCG also plans to deploy around 2,500 sanitation workers for manual sweeping in locations inaccessible to machines, including narrow lanes, roadside edges, public spaces and parks. In addition, nearly 3,300 existing sanitation employees on the corporation’s rolls will continue to be deployed separately, creating a multi-layered sanitation system combining manual and mechanised operations.
Officials say the proposal has been designed keeping in view the recommendations of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), both of which have repeatedly stressed the need for mechanised road sweeping as an effective measure to reduce road dust—a major contributor to air pollution in the National Capital Region.
MCG Executive Engineer Sunder Ahlawat said the tendering process for deploying the 72 road-sweeping machines would begin after the proposal receives government approval. He said the new system is expected to provide sustained improvements in sanitation standards while ensuring better compliance with environmental regulations.
The proposed project comes at a time when Gurugram continues to battle high dust levels and poor air quality. Civic officials believe that replacing fragmented, short-term sanitation contracts with a comprehensive five-year mechanised cleaning programme could not only improve the city’s appearance but also contribute to reducing particulate pollution and enhancing public health. If approved, it would mark one of the largest investments ever made by the MCG exclusively for urban cleanliness and road maintenance.
