In almost every big Indian city, there are corners that have silently turned into garbage dumps. Piles of waste lie rotting on the side of the road, plastic clogs drains, and no one from the municipal body seems to notice. Over time, people learn to walk past the filth, treating it as part of the cityscape.
Speaking of which, in Gurgaon, a group of foreign nationals, along with local residents, decided to take matters into their own hands. They were seen clearing trash from roads and drains, holding placards that read messages like “My Gurugram, my pride, my responsibility” and “Your street, your responsibility. No trash, more trees.”
#WATCH | Haryana | Foreign nationals living in Gurugram, along with locals, organised a cleanliness drive to clean the roads and drains in Gurugram. (24. 08) pic.twitter.com/3zKvRz7uIs
— ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2025
A video showed people picking up garbage with gloves and bags. One of them, a French national who has lived in India for nine years, said he loves the country but feels sad about the garbage problem, reported Moneycontrol.
Here’s another video of a Serbian national who said, “India is amazing. The only problem is that people also need to take care of things that are outside of their house. Indian people are among the cleanest on the planet… But the moment it’s about things outside their house, they think it’s not their issue.”
#WATCH | Gurugram, Haryana | On organising a cleanliness drive in Gurugram, Lazar, a foreign national from Serbia, said, “‘Sabhi ko apne ghar ya dukan ke saamne 2 metre ki doori tak ko saaf rakhna chahiye bas. Itna toh kar sakte hai apne desh ke liye.’
He said, “This idea came… https://t.co/wvD40zvkoE pic.twitter.com/kkUbdKkXrB
— ANI (@ANI) August 25, 2025
Social media users reacted strongly. Many admitted that while they felt proud of the volunteers, it was equally disheartening to see outsiders stepping up to clean a city that locals and the authorities had neglected. Some said it was outright shameful that people who chose to make India their home were doing the work our own civic bodies failed to do.
Others pointed out the lack of civic sense among citizens themselves, saying that the problem starts at home and in schools, where awareness is either too little or too late.
Have a look:
Super proud of my wife for participating and even helping organise this. She went with much gusto but came back with a sense of dejection at the scale of the problem.
Doubt she’s going to do this again lmao.
Sharam kar lo @MunCorpGurugram https://t.co/7VCFMnRRWP— Rohan Sachdeva (@iRohanSachdeva) August 25, 2025
Not sure about you all, but I feel this is really very insulting that foreigners have started cleaning the city… very shameful https://t.co/y9w26nlS9i
— Navaldeep Singh (@NavalGeekSingh) August 25, 2025
Instead of Cleanest city awards that continues to stay with one city since inception, we need worst city rankings by quality of infrastructure. If there is one thing we as Indians should be ashamed of – it is this. https://t.co/4qH6b0dcvI
— Anuradha Goyal (@anuradhagoyal) August 25, 2025
This is so so shameful . This is on us .
We have ZERO CIVIC SENSE .
It needs to start at home and in schools. https://t.co/YOXYZsH5hI— Joey (@DrJoyeeta) August 25, 2025
This is unacceptable. By cleaning our roads, these foreigners are not only showing India in poor light, but also showing Indians as unsanitary, irresponsible and negligent.
Please take some action against them. https://t.co/GX9Ozh2bwq
— Don Tippler (@MrTippler) August 25, 2025
We’ve got AI to detect cancer, drone delivery for biryani and apps to schedule your pet’s meditation session. But no clue how to build a decent drainage system, & keep the city clean. And this is the economic-tech capital of the country.
Soln: @DC_Gurugram @MunCorpGurugram… https://t.co/zMTLCdzEfF
— Pravin Kaushal 🇮🇳 (@iPravinKaushal) August 25, 2025
Foreigners are cleaning our streets while Municipality Babus sit fat on bribes, sipping chai in AC offices.
If this isn’t peak embarrassment, what is? 😔@MunCorpGurugram shame on you. https://t.co/z3SdCsuobl
— Gems (@gemsofbabus_) August 25, 2025
Our authorities don’t see us as humans deserving of cleanliness and clean streets are not a priority for us during elections.
But if enough white people visit India and embarrass the authorities like this, things may change. https://t.co/NcQqKlx2q1
— Arjun* (@mxtaverse) August 25, 2025
I wouldn’t be surprised if the @DC_Gurugram is celebrating this as a badge of honour, saying “they once ruled us and now they’re cleaning our streets.” It’s an absolute ignominy. Such derelictions of duty does more harm than terrorism. @NayabSainiBJP https://t.co/jvrNPsiYx0
— Prasanna Karthik (@prasannakarthik) August 25, 2025
It’s a matter of immense shame for us as a country that random foreigners have to come and clean one of our biggest metro cities which has no dearth of funds or resources. https://t.co/EJ7qKeAFN7
— Frontier Indica (@frontierindica) August 25, 2025
We still have a long way to go, not just in demanding accountability from municipal corporations but also in building basic civic responsibility as citizens.