Sikanderpur shows why India’s urban villages can’t be left out of the clean city dream

Nestled on the border between Delhi and Gurgaon, Sikanderpur Ghosi offers a unique blend of urban and rural living. This is because even though Sikanderpur falls under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG), there is no formal committee or association here to make community decisions, unlike the housing societies that are governed by Resident Welfare Associations (RWA).

With a bustling commercial market and close proximity to Cyber City —Gurugram's corporate hub — as well as good connectivity through Delhi Metro and Rapid Metro, Sikandarpur Ghosi is an ideal base for travellers or migrants seeking low-cost accommodation.

Despite its prominent location, Sikanderpur Ghosi faces significant challenges, particularly in solid waste management. The urban village lacks an efficient solid waste collection system. According to the Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules of 2016, every waste generator must segregate and store their waste in three separate streams: Biodegradable, non-biodegradable and domestic hazardous wastes.

These should be stored in suitable bins and handed over to authorised waste pickers or waste collectors as directed by local authorities. While regulations are in place, their practical application in urban villages like Sikanderpur is ineffective, hindered by a lack of public understanding.

Challenges in Sikanderpur

Urban villages like Sikanderpur typically have high population densities due to significant in-migration from other parts of the country in search of employment opportunities. This influx of people creates several challenges, including:

Layout and demography: Sikanderpur consists of around 7,000 households and 600 shops within an area of 135.16 acres. It has a high density of population and most of the residents are migrants or seasonal workers who live as tenants and paying guests.

Lack of awareness: Some residents were aware that open dumping and mixed waste pose health and environmental risks. However, they lacked knowledge about source segregation and what constitutes wet waste, dry waste, and domestic hazardous waste. They also did not understand how segregating their waste can help protect the environment. 

Lack of infrastructure: There was no specific place or processing to manage the 6 tonnes of waste generated on a daily basis. Informal waste workers and sweeping staff had no designated place for keeping segregated waste and also processing wet waste. After collection, sweeping waste and mixed waste used to get dumped in trolleys near a government school. Only one waste vehicle operates in Sikanderpur, often without sufficient human resource or sound system.

Collection system: Waste collection was carried out by the MCG concessionaire as well as by informal waste workers. Only mixed waste was collected from households and shops due to a lack of community awareness about segregation. Some people even resorted to open dumping of waste owing as they were not serviced by the regular waste collection system.

Irregularities in waste collection and the subsequent withdrawal of services by the MCG concessionaire further aggravated this challenge. The absence of a proper collection system has exacerbated the issues of open dumping and waste burning, resulting in visible uncleanliness throughout the village.

Ownership and responsibility: Owing to the large proportion of the floating population in the area, there is a lack of community ownership regarding sanitation and public hygiene. Property owners do not take an interest in Sikanderpur, as they do not reside there, and people coming from different states and staying for a few months do not assume ownership.

'Swachh Sundar Sikanderpur' initiative

In response to these pressing issues, the “Swachh Sundar Sikanderpur” programme was initiated by Saahas, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to creating sustainable waste management systems across India. The project was aimed at streamlining the solid waste collection system and transforming Sikanderpur into a model urban village.

In this programme, door-to-door awareness campaigns were conducted on source segregation in the initial phase, and bins were provided to households for practising segregation. During awareness, around 7,000 points of waste generation (PoG) were reached and waste segregation guideline flyers were also provided to all the PoGs to spread information.

Even though the Saahas team accompanied the waste collection vehicle in the mornings to educate residents, various methods and approaches were adopted to reinforce the messaging. For example, information about segregation was disseminated through informal waste workers, frequent community meetings and Nukkad Natak or Street Plays were held for residents and children.

Apart from that, multiple sessions and games were organised in schools to teach students about source segregation in an engaging way. Even the walls inside Sikanderpur were painted with colourful messaging to spread awareness to residents on source segregation and waste management. 

Owing to these initiatives, people slowly started segregating their waste. Property owners and caretakers were informed about the segregation practices that were required from tenants. Some active community members joined the initiative and helped raise awareness. After the initial reluctance, community members eventually came forward to discuss waste management and sort the issue of open dumping. With community support, an open dumping site beside the school was cleaned and beautified, transforming it into a car parking and sitting area.

Recognising the critical role of informal waste workers in SWM, training and capacity building programs were developed for them. They were trained on ensuring source segregation, and capacity-building sessions were conducted for them. During these sessions, they learned how to monitor and educate the residents on giving segregated waste and inform the Saahas team as well if anyone digresses from the process.

These sessions had a positive outcome on their knowledge, livelihood and wellbeing as collection of segregated waste from the community, not only helped in better resource recovery from recyclables but also fetched better prices for waste workers. This intervention also reduced health related issues such as injuries, infections, and other diseases. 15 informal waste workers were also provided with ID cards by MCG (Municipal Corporation of Gurugram) to integrate them into the formal system and ensure that they were treated with respect and dignity. 

Once collection was streamlined, disposal systems were established to process wet waste, including a composting unit capable of handling 1.5 tonnes of wet waste per day.

Additionally, around 300 kg of wet waste per day is being diverted to a Gaushala. Dry waste is getting collected and processed by informal waste workers. This ensures that the majority of waste generated in Sikandarpur is scientifically managed, ensuring better visual cleanliness in the area and also improving the lives and livelihoods of the workers.

To highlight the importance of urban villages, Saahas also conducted a conclave titled Shehri Gaon ki Chaupal pe Bol Chaal to understand and discuss the challenges and gaps faced by urban villages, and to explore comprehensive solutions through dialogue with all involved stakeholders. During the conclave, stakeholders engaged in direct conversations, and several key issues came to the forefront.

Every metropolitan city in India has localities like this, which become waste hotspots owing to a combination of factors, including but not limited to poor sanitation and inadequate waste management. Gurugram’s Sikanderpur can be a model initiative to showcase the success of focused interventions and positive change. 

Rukhsar Gauri is project manager at Saahas. Aarti Sachdeva is lead, knowledge development at Saahas. Hrishita Gupta is programme manager at Saahas.

Views expressed are the authors’ own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth.