All efforts by MC Commissioner G S Ghuman to remove encroachments from city markets seem to have gone down the drain.

Despite repeated visits by Ghuman, encroachments in the Sarabha Nagar market and on the Pakhowal Road have sprung up again.

With no team to follow up the process, the markets were seen encroached like other days on Saturday as well.

The Sarabha Nagar market association, meanwhile, maintained that the “market does not look good, if stalls are not placed outside the shops”. Customers are attracted only after looking at the stalls, was the justification offered by the association members.

On Pakhowal Road, too, the scene was no different.

The vendors were spotted selling their products as usual. Rendering two days of hard work put in by the commissioner futile, the shopkeepers in Model Town Extension market went a step ahead and had arranged chairs and tables on the roadside for customers to sit and enjoy eatables.

However, MC teams cleared the temporary encroachments on the Dugri Road near former Congress minister Harnam Das Johar’s residence. In addition to this, a few other encroachments were also cleared on the new DMC Road to smoothen the traffic flow. Due to parked vehicles and selling of wares on the road, the road has become so narrow that at times it gets difficult for ambulances to pass through. Though these encroachments have been cleared a number of times in the past, they have always sprung up again in a few days.

MC Commissioner G S Ghuman said, “I was away for a family function so have no knowledge about the re-surfacing of the encroachments. I will check the spots personally. After all, follow ups are a must.”