Though a proposal of cleaning the Holy City had been mooted in September last, insanitation continues to be one of the major problems bugging the city. Under the proposal, the garbage collected was to be used for production of compost, fuel and electricity to make the city self-reliant in terms of energy generation, but things are still the same as they were in the year gone by.

Try driving through the Galliara area surrounding the Golden Temple and heaps of garbage will stare in your face. Similar is the scene in localities around the Tarn Taran Road. “The scene has been the same for decades and no one has ever bothered to set things right here,” said Balkar Singh, who has a shop on Tarn Taran road.

The bins in bazaars on the Court Road and Queen’s Road have not been cleaned for quite sometime.

The water supply is still erratic and disposal system needs to be overhauled in Verka and Focal Point area. “Pools of stagnant water continue to play havoc with the health of the people as sewerage disposal system has not been cleaned here for quite some time,” said Harinder Singh, an industrialist. Many people were taken ill in the city recently due to consumption of contaminated water.

The anti-encroachment drive of the MC proved to be a damp squib too, as infringements by shopkeepers can be seen in areas of Ram Bagh, Railway Link Road, Queen’s Road, Hall Bazaar, Hukam Singh Road and other places. Wrong parking and increasing number of hoardings also continues to bother the city.

“If we go by the proposals and promises of those in power, the city should have become a paradise long ago,” said Brij Bedi, a social worker.