Panchkula, May 4 -- Despite the municipal corporation (MC) allocating over Rs.46 crore for waste management contracts during the outgoing term, the issue of waste disposal remains a central plank in political manifestos ahead of the May 10 civic elections. After a sharp decline in national cleanliness rankings and a stagnant partnership with the Chandigarh MC, the civic body appears unable to contain the crisis, with garbage heaps continuing to mar several sectors. In its manifesto, the BJP has committed to spending approximately Rs.100 crore on door-to-door lifting and scientific disposal, effectively promising to double the current expenditure. The Congress has similarly pledged to overhaul the system, yet past promises raise concerns as the city's 2020 pledge for Smart City status and the proposed Jhuriwala waste plant both failed to materialise. The crisis is most visible in Sectors 16, 17, 20, and Industrial Area Phase 1, where scattered waste remains a persistent eyesore. Beyond the foul smell, the garbage attracts stray cattle, posing a significant risk for road accidents, particularly near local vegetable markets in Sectors 5, 14, and 15. Indiscriminate dumping by roadside dwellers and a breakdown in collection schedules have further aggravated the problem. Residents, such as Mohit Gupta from Sector 25, say that collectors arrive late and often mix segregated waste into a single bin, forcing many to keep waste outside for hours where it is eventually scattered by animals. While chief sanitary inspector Anil Nain claims that unauthorised dumping sites have been reduced from 110 to 20 and that the construction and demolition (C&D) waste plant at Jalauli is now functional, the ground reality remains far removed from official claims of improvement. The city's waste history is one of displacement rather than disposal, marked by hasty decisions and legal setbacks. Rakesh Aggarwal, a member of Panchkula Vikas Manch, says that the decision to dump waste at Jhuriwala in 2020 was a hasty response to protests by trans-Ghaggar residents against dumping in Sector 23. "Legacy waste still sits in Sector 23, and its removal is agonizingly slow. There is a total lack of concrete planning and supervision," he says. Moreover, the site, located just 140 metres from the Khol-Hai-Raitan Wildlife Sanctuary, drew the ire of the National Green Tribunal. In November 2022, the NGT imposed a Rs.10 crore penalty on the Panchkula (Rs.9 crore) and Kalka (Rs.1crore) MCs for environmental violations, forcing the closure of the site. At present, the city's 200 metric tonnes of daily waste is moved to a material recovery facility (MRF) at Alipur before being transported to Patvi in Ambala for processing. This reliance on a neighbouring district has created new tension, as Alipur residents are now protesting the proximity of the transfer station, citing foul smells and improper clearance in a matter that has once again reached the tribunal. In a bid to professionalise its sanitation services, the Panchkula MC signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chandigarh MC in September 2025 under the Swachh Shehar Jodi initiative. Under this mentorship model, Chandigarh-consistently a top performer in cleanliness-was tasked with sharing best practices, technical expertise in waste processing, and providing a roadmap for legacy waste remediation. However, the partnership has yielded little visible improvement on the ground. Despite the mentorship, door-to-door collection metrics have reportedly slipped, and the city's inability to process its own waste locally highlights a failure to adopt the very best practices the agreement was designed to facilitate. As the civic body struggles to translate administrative MoUs into street-level cleanliness, the garbage issue remains a potent symbol of municipal apathy for the voter....