But this common man's Sector, despite its self-sufficiency, is plagued by over-population. Apart from having a planned population of about 35,000, it has more numbers, thus making it an area of high-density population probably the highest in the City.

This has not only put constant pressure on the infrastructure facilities available in the Sector, but has also made maintenance difficult. Though the residents boast of many facilities in their Sector, they lament the absence of a post office. ``Letter boxes in the Sector are also inadequate,'' said G. K. Sharma, a resident. Another hindrance is a lot of schools in the area which lead to traffic congestion.

These include the Government Senior Secondary School, Government Model School and a Government High School, besides Guru Nanak Public School, Indian Public School, J. V. Public School and St Peter's School (currently under construction) among the private ones. ``So many schools, though a boon, also pose problems, since most of them are concentrated in a small area,'' says former Mayor Kamla Sharma, who resides in the Sector. She has demanded a ban on the plying of school buses on the inside (V-6) roads of the Sector.

Besides, encroachments made by residents reaching up to the roads, especially in sub-sectors C and D, have left little space on the roads. Parking of vehicles here has become a major problem. Interestingly, the house-owners have encroached upon government land outside their front courtyards while some others have even broken their front walls to make way for a spacious garden.

The issue of some vacant plots, which are yet to be auctioned, poses another major problem. Sharma points out that since they are a ``nuisance'' (used as they are for dumping garbage), such allotted plots which have not been constructed should be resumed.

The Sector, which otherwise has a cinema hall (Batra theatre), religious places, social institutions like the Parshuram Bhavan and Ambedkar Bhavan, and adequate markets offering almost everything to the customer ranging from white goods, jewellery, apparel, groceries and confectionaries. Besides a petrol pump, a kerosene oil pump, a community club, a 9,000-line telephone sub-exchange and a water works unit are also part of the Sector that has at least 5,000-odd dwelling units for people of all classes living in one-kanal, 10-marla, 7 and 5-marla houses, besides EWS tenements and multi-storeyed houses of various government and semi-government societies.

In fact, some MNCs have also come in to open showrooms and company offices in the Sector. Area councillor Air Marshall R. S. Bedi (retd) points out that though steps have been taken to solve problems of the area, some outstanding problems still remain to be addressed and efforts to sort them out are being made.

Highlighting some of the achievements like completing the work on roads in the Sector and removal of Congress grass, Bedi points out that among the few unsolved problems of the area are the provision of proper drainage on the roundabout of Sectors 36/37, and development of public parks and the green belt. He informed that efforts to educate the public for not encroaching upon the land outside their houses are being made. He said that the Corporation had also earmarked three public parks in the Sector for their development (one out of MP relief fund).

The purpose is to provide recreational facilities to the public. Though the residents resent the lack of development of the green belt, which is ``neglected and ill-maintained'', an official said that as per the Master Plan , a cycle track will be developed on the green belt. Though the market place in Sector 37 is fairly developed, shopkeepers are irked with some of the glaring problems. Rohit Sood, president of the Sector 37 Market Association, pointed out that lack of lights in parking areas, no urinals, accident-prone areas due to encroachments are some of the major problems.

Sanjeev Babbar, general secretary of the Market Association, while calling for repair of roads on the backside of the market, says ``we are ready to regulate traffic ,provided police staff are provided to us.'' The problem of use of open space for urinating would, however, be solved soon as the Administration plans to put up a wall of barbed/meshed wire behind Batra theatre, instead of the brick-wall constructed now.Cinema-buffs urinated in the public in the area, posing a source of embarrassment.

On the other hand, J. C. Dhingra, president of Residents Welfare Association, Sector 37-A, points out that the lone community club in the Sector is not offering any new membership to its residents.

Even though no government help is forthcoming, Dhingra wishes to make it a ``model sector''. He said that a plan to block various entry points to the Sector and undertake the ``watch and ward from our own resources'' was being evolved. He also pointed out that there was a need to lay road gullies for drainage of water behind Batra theatre, since they are not there at all.

President of Sector 37-D Residents Welfare Society J. L. Bajaj is, however, more critical on the maintenance of the Sector. ``It might be a popular sector, but cleanliness is a problem, drainage is blocked in some parts, parks are ill-maintained and flooring in the markets is not proper,'' he said.He also pointed out that even though all internal roads have been made afresh, the ones in Sector 37-D have not yet been dealt with.

Jagdish Jaggi, president of the Welfare Association of Sector 37-D, said there was inadequate security and there were no speed breakers.