The garbage crisis in Ludhiana has reached a critical stage, leaving Punjab’s largest industrial city battling overflowing waste, foul odours and growing public health concerns. As sanitation workers continued their strike for the sixth consecutive day, heaps of uncollected garbage spread across markets, residential colonies and busy intersections, raising fears of a possible disease outbreak among residents already struggling with the aftermath of recent heavy rainfall.
The worsening situation has exposed deep cracks in the city’s civic infrastructure. Streets that usually witness heavy commercial activity now remain lined with piles of rotting waste, while stagnant rainwater mixed with overflowing sewage has created ideal breeding conditions for mosquitoes and other disease-carrying insects. Residents say the combination of waterlogging and garbage has turned everyday life into a nightmare.
The crisis comes only days after several hours of intense rainfall flooded large parts of the city, bringing traffic to a standstill and inundating homes, shops and business establishments. Roads resembled rivers as drainage systems failed to cope with the downpour. Before the city could recover from the flooding, the sanitation workers’ strike pushed Ludhiana into another civic emergency, making the impact even more severe.
Municipal Commissioner Ojaswi Alankar said the civic administration has constituted teams to ensure garbage collection resumes as quickly as possible. According to him, strict action will be taken against sanitation workers allegedly preventing garbage lifting operations.
“We have formed teams to take stern action against those sanitation workers who are not allowing garbage to be lifted. The garbage compactor will be operational shortly,” the Municipal Commissioner said while assuring residents that efforts are underway to restore sanitation services.
Despite these assurances, garbage continued to accumulate across several neighbourhoods, leaving residents frustrated and anxious. Many citizens fear that if the strike continues, the city could witness outbreaks of vector-borne diseases such as dengue, malaria and other infections, particularly during the ongoing monsoon season.
Several sanitation workers have reportedly indicated that they intend to continue their protest until they receive a direct hearing from Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, who is expected to visit Ludhiana soon to inaugurate a School of Eminence. The workers hope to present their demands personally during the Chief Minister’s visit.
The strike has once again highlighted Ludhiana’s long-standing civic challenges. Although the city is widely recognised as Punjab’s industrial and economic powerhouse, residents argue that its basic urban infrastructure has failed to keep pace with rapid population growth and industrial expansion.
Ludhiana is home to one of the country’s strongest manufacturing sectors and contributes significantly to Punjab’s economy. The city also houses numerous wealthy industrial families and business groups whose enterprises generate thousands of jobs and substantial tax revenues. Yet many residents believe the city’s wealth has not translated into better public infrastructure.
Ironically, several of the city’s wealthiest industrialists travel daily through roads that regularly experience severe flooding during the monsoon. Key traffic corridors including Transport Nagar, Dholewal Chowk, Pratap Chowk, R.K. Road, Ferozepur Road and Gill Road often become virtually impassable after heavy rain, disrupting both business operations and daily commuting.
Urban experts and local activists argue that despite multiple Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives undertaken by industries, meaningful investment in improving drainage systems and civic infrastructure has remained limited. They believe long-term planning has consistently taken a back seat to short-term fixes.
For residents, the current crisis is far from unprecedented. Every monsoon season brings familiar scenes of flooded streets, overflowing sewers and damaged homes. This year, however, the sanitation strike has intensified the problem by preventing routine garbage collection, allowing waste to pile up across the city.
Kuldeep Singh Khaira, a member of the Public Action Committee and an RTI activist, said Ludhiana has endured the same civic failures for decades.
“This has been the city’s condition for years. Every monsoon, residents suffer because rainwater enters homes along with overflowing sewage. Roads remain submerged, garbage accumulates everywhere and there is still no effective drainage system to carry away excess rainwater,” he said.
The financial impact has also been substantial. Shopkeepers and residents in densely populated commercial areas including Talab Bazaar, Gur Mandi, Saban Bazaar, Kesar Ganj Mandi Road, Chaura Bazaar, Maleri Gali, Rupa Mistri Gali, Sagla Wala Shivala Road, Chaudi Sadak, Pratap Bazaar, Town Hall Road and areas surrounding the Municipal Corporation headquarters have reported significant losses after floodwater entered their premises.
Many businesses remained closed for extended periods while traders struggled to remove mud, sewage and damaged goods. Local merchants say repeated flooding has become an annual burden that affects livelihoods as much as public health.
Questions are also being raised about Ludhiana’s Smart City status. The city was selected under the Centre’s Smart Cities Mission in 2016 and reportedly received nearly ₹1,000 crore jointly from the Central and Punjab governments for urban development projects. Residents now ask whether those investments have delivered meaningful improvements in essential civic services.
One of the biggest concerns remains the absence of an effective stormwater drainage network. Much of Ludhiana still depends on ageing sewer infrastructure that was designed decades ago for a much smaller population. As the city expanded rapidly, authorities often responded by adding isolated pipelines instead of implementing a comprehensive drainage master plan capable of handling modern urban requirements.
Mayor Inderjit Kaur acknowledged that waterlogging continues to challenge the city. However, she maintained that despite the sanitation workers’ strike, this year’s situation was relatively better than previous years.
Responding to criticism over delayed storm sewer projects, the Mayor said the Punjab Government has faced difficulties obtaining mandatory No Objection Certificates from agencies such as the National Highways Authority of India. She also pointed to space constraints in densely populated localities where laying new storm sewer lines presents engineering challenges.
Critics, however, remain unconvinced.
Former BJP councillor Inder Aggarwal said earlier storm sewer projects undertaken during previous administrations have deteriorated over time and no longer function effectively after heavy rainfall.
Senior Congress leader and former councillor Parminder Mehta argued that only a few hours of rain were enough to expose the city’s fragile infrastructure. He questioned whether proper approvals and planning are consistently followed before civic works begin, pointing to repeated road resurfacing, illegal constructions and environmental violations.
Mehta further alleged that excessive focus on cleaning the Buddha Nullah diverted attention from creating a citywide stormwater drainage network. According to him, large sums have already been spent on the nullah while residents continue to face flooding every monsoon.
The current garbage crisis has therefore become more than a labour dispute. It has evolved into a powerful reminder of Ludhiana’s unresolved urban challenges. Overflowing garbage, failing drainage systems, ageing sewer networks and delayed infrastructure projects have combined to expose systemic weaknesses that have accumulated over decades.
Unless sanitation services resume quickly and authorities accelerate long-term infrastructure reforms, residents fear the immediate crisis could evolve into a serious public health emergency. With monsoon rains expected to continue, the coming days may determine whether Punjab’s richest city can prevent a sanitation crisis from becoming a full-scale health disaster.