The sanitation workers’ strike in Haryana completed around a month on Wednesday amid escalating confrontations between striking employees and police in several districts, as civic bodies stepped up efforts to clear mountains of uncollected garbage.
The confrontations between the police personnel and protesting sanitation workers who were not allowing the authorities to lift the heaps of garbage from key locations of the cities took place after midnight in Hisar, Bahadurgarh, Jhajjar, Ellenabad, Hansi, Rohtak and Sonepat. Even taking a tougher stand the police registered an FIR against striking workers over alleged obstruction, assaults and damage to civic vehicles. Police alleged that the workers pushed garbage-vehicle drivers out of their vehicles, attempted to assault officials and employees and issued threats. Several workers were detained, while others allegedly fled. In Jhajjar, workers held a torch march protesting police action, while in Rohtak union leaders accused officials of issuing threats after talks failed. Workers protesting at the site blocked the operation, following which police used force to disperse them. Workers alleged that both men and women were dragged into buses. Some women climbed onto an earth mover and deflated its tyres.
In Hisar, police booked 20 named sanitation workers, including 14 women, along with 25–30 unidentified employees following Tuesday’s clash as the videos of clash and sanitation workers hurling garbage on the cops went viral on social media. The case was registered at Urban Estate police station on the complaint of duty magistrate and DHBVN SDO Amit Kumar under Sections 121(1), 132, 221, 190, 191(2), 351(3), 189(2) and 270 of the BNS. Amit Kumar was supervising the clearance operation along with municipal officials and police personnel around 10 am when a group of 25–30 contractual sanitation workers reached the spot and allegedly obstructed the work, according to the complaint. In Bahadurgarh, the administration and police teams reached a dumping site around 2 am to resume garbage lifting. The confrontation continued until around 5 am with several workers being detained by the police. In Bhiwani, the Haryana Fire and Emergency Services department has suspended three leading firemen for participating in the ongoing strike and warned 11 contractual employees to report for duty by 9 am on September 3 or face disciplinary action.
