"I find poly-bags full of garbage thrown by the colony people in my courtyard in the morning, their cattle and pigs destroy my lawn, they steal manhole covers, water taps, petrol from vehicles, clothes ... anything that is not red-hot or nailed down. We can't all go out of town at the same time; one of us has to stay home on guard duty because many times we have seen that someone has tried to break open our locks. Such a filthy place ... and they have named it after Guru Nanak!"

Guru Nanak Colony is one of those typical hell-holes one finds around any city unsanitary, disorderly, congested. In this case, it's an inter-state eyesore about two-thirds of it are in the UT and a third with about 3500 houses in SAS Nagar. Entry to the slum is from the township.

"We are choked by the smell of garbage and excrement, vexed by the noise and have to keep a constant watch for petty theives," complains Shaheed Khan, a resident of LIG flats adjoining the slum. He speaks for all his neighbours who have been complaining of the nuisance created by the colony for more than a year, without seeing any change.

"On our repeated requests PUDA started constructing a boundary wall but abandoned the work half-way," says bank employee Shaminder Singh. "Nobody knows why they didn't finish the job; we've complained about it so many times but nothing has been done to date." He points to "dirt all around and swarms of mosquitoes". The proximity of the colony has also depressed property prices in this pocket of Phase X.

"Twenty per cent lower than rates for other localities in Phase X," according to Sanjay Oberoi, a property consultant. One resident moaned: "Living here is a misery but I can't find anyone who will buy this house."When Newsline contacted, Additional Chief Administrator, PUDA, SAS Nagar, Depinder Singh promised : "As I have joined recently, I will visit the site myself and take necesary steps." He claimed that no one had approached PUDA about the problems created by the slum and that he had just come to know about them. According to Singh the colony is unauthorised.

"Unauthorised?!" exclaimed a colony resident, Hari Om Garg. "How can it be called unauthorised? We have ration cards, electricity connections, voter identity cards and three ration depots here. This place comes under SAS Nagar Municipal Council ward number 21."