Thousands of Delhi municipal sanitation workers on Thursday staged protests and dumped garbage outside Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's house in the capital, reported Hindustan Times. The civic workers, who went on a three-day strike on Wednesday, threatened to extend it indefinitely if their pending salaries and arrears are not released immediately. Mazdoor Vikas Samyukta Morcha president Sanjay Gehlot said that in addition to the arrears, their demands include regularising employees who are on contract and unifying the three corporations.

With the civic employees on strike, the Delhi High Court had, earlier in the day, directed the Delhi Police to ensure that garbage is removed from the roads of the national capital to keep the city clean in accordance with Prime Minster Narendra Modi's pet project Swachh Bharat, reported India Today. The Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled municipal corporations in the capital report to the Centre, and not the Delhi government.

The court asked the Centre to ensure that civic agencies do their job properly. "The commissioner of police, in coordination with the three municipal corporations, has to ensure that the garbage is removed from the streets," the bench said. The High Court noted that the Capital was turning into a garbage dump and said the residents must not suffer as they were also paying taxes for sanitation.