Gurgaon’s sanitation funds under-utilised

GURGAON, Haryana: The Gurgaon Municipal Corporation (MCG) has struggled to make use of the allocated funds, resulting in a severe solid waste management crisis.

In the previous fiscal year, the MCG only utilised 33 per cent of the allocated budget for sanitation. The situation worsened in the current fiscal year, with only 12.3 per cent of the designated funds being used up until now.

The budget allocated for sanitation was also reduced by nearly 43 per cent from last year to the current fiscal year.

In the fiscal year 2023-24, out of the allocated Rs 570 crore budget for sanitation, only Rs 190 crore was utilised. In the current fiscal year, only Rs 40 crore has been utilised out of the allocated Rs 325 crore for sanitation purposes.

“We have funds, however, we are cautious with utilising the public money. We already have one concessionaire for solid waste management. We cannot have another agency for the same until the concessionaire’s contract is terminated, for which we have already written to the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) department. We can face legal action if we do so. We, however, have not received any approval from them yet,” said a senior MCG official.