Gurugram:The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) missed its January deadline for making 27 identified roads in the city dust-free under its action plan.
According to the plan formed on December 30, 2025, 49 kilometers of road were supposed to be made dust-free by the end of each month. However, most stretches remain coated with loose dust, triggering concern among residents and environmentalists.
MCG officials attributed the delay to a lack of resources and the pressure of multiple ongoing developmental projects, which, they said, have hampered effective dust control. Despite the shortfall, MCG claimed to have made some progress, stating that 119 tonnes of dust were collected manually and another 65 tonnes were removed using mechanical methods in the month of January across the 27 roads identified for January.
Currently, the city has only 18 mechanical road-sweeping machines, fewer than the needed fleet of 42, according to the action plan. The action plan states that the MCG has 4,910 personnel, below the required strength of 5,426. According to the action plan, achieving 100% dust-free roads across the city is expected to take up to three months with the existing resources.
Ravinder Yadav, additional commissioner at MCG, told HT on Thursday that special focus will be given to eight roads. These include the stretch from Bakhtwara Chowk to Subash Chowk, Rajiv Chowk to Hero Honda Chowk, Umang Chowk to Hero Honda Chowk, Shyam Baba Chowk to Dhankot Village, Mahavir Chowk to 4/7 Chowk, Sanath road, Sohna Chowk to Mahaveer Chowk, and the Old Southern Peripheral Road (SPR).
“These roads have been cleared once by our team, but maintaining dust-free roads is not a one-day task. It requires regular monitoring and continuous sweeping,” he said. “We are utilising all our resources fully and keeping a close watch on dust accumulation. Special focus on the eight roads will also be prioritised.”
Residents have flagged deteriorating air quality and health risks, especially for children, senior citizens and those with respiratory ailments.
Gauri Sarin, environmentalist and founder of the citizen-led group, Gurugram Residents Against Pollution (Grap), criticised the MCG’s plan to divide roads and set monthly dust-removal targets, calling it “ineffective.”
“This is the biggest joke on Gurugram. Roads cannot remain dust-laden for an entire month. The plan makes no sense. Why can’t all roads be cleaned and monitored daily?” she said. “The roads are broken, pavements and footpaths are broken. This is not how you can make our roads dust-free.”
Under the city action plan, the corporation has set a target to make 294 roads of the city dust-free by 2026. In February, the corporation has set a target to make 23 roads dust-free by February end. In total, the corporation has set a target to make 528.1 kilometers dust-free this year.