Gurugram is reeling from piles of garbage dumped in open grounds on the various parts of the city. Commuters say it has become impossible to roll down the windows when driving on Golf Course Extension Road or Southern Peripheral Road, with the stink becoming prominent every passing day. Residents of some societies in these areas say many of their car cleaners, domestic workers and garbage collection staff, most of them reportedly from Bengal, haven’t reported to work for a couple of days and many have gone back to their villages. What Is Happening In Gurugram? According to a Hindustan Times report, these workers, who had been working in Gurugram for years, have fled out of fear, after a verification drive by Gurugram Police that allegedly involved random checks, detentions, and deportation threats. The report states that between July 13 and 21, nearly 100 people, most of them working as domestic helps or garbage collectors, were allegedly detained. The report adds that some were released and allegedly asked to board trains to Assam. Residents of societies in Sectors 69 and 70 say a lot of domestic workers and car cleaners have either returned to their villages or are planning to return, mostly to Assam and West Bengal. Close to Nirvana Country, during my morning cycling. Gurgaon is setting a new bench mark in urban planning and sustainability. Most animal and garbage friendly city. Such a joy to live in the millennium city ?#Gurgaon #Gurugram @IndianGems_ @DC_Gurugram @cmohry pic.twitter.com/R71jTYaLgj — Maj Gen (Dr) YashMor (@YashMor5) July 23, 2025 New dumping ground close to Tulip Chowk ? pic.twitter.com/hlytfks016 — Gaurav Tripathi (@sunnygaurav) July 23, 2025 The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram has also acknowledged the crisis. “Most of the drivers and waste collectors are migratory workers, and their going away will affect our operations. We’re working with senior officials and the chief minister to find alternatives and minimise disruption,” HT quoted commissioner Dahiya as saying. TMC Hits Out At BJP Trinamool Congress spokesperson Partha Pratim Ray accused the BJP of targeting “Bengali speaking” workers. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has also hit out at the BJP after reports emerged that 52 Bengali migrant workers have been detained in Gurugram on the suspicion that they were illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. “Today, a notice from Gurgaon reached the district magistrates and police superintendents of Malda, South Dinajpur, North Dinajpur, Nadia, Murshidabad, Cooch Behar and North 24 Parganas. The Gurugram administration has detained 52 people from these districts and has asked our DMs and SPs to verify their backgrounds and send reports,” Banerjee said on Tuesday. Banerjee urged everyone not to panic as specific districts are being selected now, emphasising that it is their duty to protect citizens. She warned that if BJP believes it can delete voters’ names and win elections as it did in Delhi and Maharashtra, it is making a “significant mistake.” “Speaking Bengal is being treated as a crime. I don’t think speaking any other language is a crime. If we don’t object to other languages, why are you torturing people who speak our language? The nation will collapse if this continues,” she said. Earlier last week, Banerjee had led a protest march from Kolkata’s College Street to Esplanade against the alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking migrants in BJP-ruled states and threatened a “second Bhasha Andolan” (language movement). The Haryana government or Gurugram Police are yet to issue clarity on what the verification process is about and how many people have been detained. Meanwhile, with no clarity on the issue, fear is driving workers away from Gurugram as they are scared of consequences. “We don’t know why this is happening. Yesterday, some policemen came to our house too asking for our IDs and also checked our phones. While they left when we showed them our Aadhaar and phones, some of our neighbours were detained on not being able to produce valid ID proofs,” said one of the domestic workers, working in a Sector 70 society, adding that they could not figure why some people were being detained and others were let off.