Escalating Standoff in Hisar

A tense standoff unfolded in Hisar on Sunday as municipal officials, backed by a heavy police presence, moved in around 5am to clear more than 3,600 tonnes of accumulated garbage at ITI Chowk. The operation, part of a broader effort to address the sanitation crisis caused by an 18-day workers' strike, was met with resistance from protesting sanitation workers.

According to multiple reports, workers attempted to block the clearance operation, leading police to detain several protesters. A confrontation also broke out between women sanitation workers and women police personnel, with police alleging that the women threw garbage at them. The detained workers were taken to the police lines in Roadways buses.

The escalation followed an earlier clash at ITI Chowk, for which police have registered an FIR against 16 named workers, including Municipal Employees' Union Hisar unit president Surender Golu and district president Santri, along with around 100 unidentified individuals. The FIR, filed on a complaint by municipal engineer Amit Berwal and reports from sanitation inspectors, invokes sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Sections 121(1), 132, 189(2), 190, 191(2), 221, 270, and 351(3). The case is being investigated by Sub-inspector Vikas Kumar.

The municipal corporation has accused striking workers of obstructing the clearance team, climbing onto a JCB machine, pushing its driver, and threatening officials and employees. Officials said photographs, CCTV footage, and videos were used to identify those involved.

The prolonged strike has left large parts of Hisar littered with waste, raising concerns over the spread of diseases and disruption to traffic.

Statewide Disruptions

The strike has disrupted sanitation services across Haryana, with similar confrontations reported in several other towns. In Charkhi Dadri, where workers entered the 17th day of their strike on Sunday, the administration deployed JCBs, tractors, trolleys, and police to clear waste. Reports differ on the number of workers detained: some sources say 11 workers, including the union president, were held for nearly five hours, while others report more than a dozen workers detained around 4am. Employee organisations and Congress functionaries later held a protest march in the town.

In Yamunanagar-Jagadhri, the municipal corporation began removing around 700 tonnes of waste from 42 dumping points with police assistance, leading to the detention of around 39 protesting workers.

In Jhajjar-Bahadurgarh, authorities launched a clearance operation around 2am, prompting workers to protest before a JCB. Employees alleged that the night operation was aimed at weakening their agitation and claimed that garbage was later dumped again at several locations. In Bahadurgarh, sanitation workers opposed a municipal council team that arrived with police on Saturday night, after nearly 17 days of strike had left waste heaps spilling onto roads and a foul odour affecting residents.

Bhiwani and Hansi

In Bhiwani, the administration removed around 90 trolley-loads of garbage from Circular Road through an agency, under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner Sahil Gupta and District Municipal Commissioner Harbir Singh. Workers who tried to stop the operation were taken away in police vehicles for some time. Later, striking workers protested outside the residence of MLA Ghanshyam Saraf.

Local union leaders, including Sarv Karamchari Sangh Bhiwani block president Ashok Goyat, alleged that several employees were detained by police at night and released in the morning. In Hansi town, heaps of garbage have also accumulated. Additional Deputy Commissioner Lakshit Sareen said the government had agreed in principle to most of the demands of sanitation and fire employees, but warned that anyone obstructing garbage-lifting operations would face legal action. The district administration launched a drive to lift garbage from various points in the town.

Workers' Demands and Government Response

The strike has continued despite talks between the state government and workers' representatives on Saturday, which failed to resolve the key issue of regularisation. The government said it had accepted 13 of the workers' 14 demands, but regularisation of contractual employees and abolition of the contractual system remained unresolved.

Workers are demanding regularisation of contractual employees, an end to outsourcing, departmental appointment of workers currently engaged through contractors, and a minimum monthly wage of ₹30,000 for door-to-door sanitation workers. They are also seeking implementation of an agreement reached with the government on May 13 and resolution of their 22-point charter. Agency workers have joined the strike in some towns, halting door-to-door collection and waste removal.

Union and Official Perspectives

Municipal authorities have maintained that clearing accumulated waste is necessary to prevent inconvenience to residents and address sanitation concerns. Dabwali union district secretary Suraj Kumar, after being detained, accused the government of using coercive measures instead of resolving workers' demands. He said sanitation workers had continued to provide essential services to keep cities clean but their concerns were being ignored.

The striking employees' union claimed that its members did not want to inconvenience the public but were fighting for their livelihood, and urged the government to abandon the confrontation and resolve the issue through dialogue. Workers have vowed to continue the strike until their demands are addressed.

In Charkhi Dadri, residents reportedly set fire to garbage piles at some locations, causing smoke to spread and prompting concerns over air pollution. With negotiations still inconclusive and civic bodies increasingly resorting to police-backed garbage clearance, the prolonged strike is emerging as a major sanitation and law-and-order challenge for urban Haryana.