India, Aug. 20 -- The promise of Gurugram - the Millennium City of glittering glass towers and sweeping expressways - comes to a jarring halt in Sector 37. Here, the air is thick with the stench of rotting waste, drains overflow into the streets, and pavements collapse beneath the weight of neglect. What was once a clean, well-maintained stretch linking Esplanade to the Dwarka Expressway has decayed into a corridor of filth.

On this road, garbage piles spill over the pedestrian walkway, plastic bags tangle in the weeds, and pools of stagnant water glimmer under the August sun -- a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes. The monsoon has made it worse, washing heaps of trash into open drains and turning pathways into slippery hazards.

"It...