MOHALI: It may be a part of Punjab's 'Future City' Mohali, but Zirakpur lacks the basic amenities that are needed to provide a respectable status to a city. Growing fast as a destination for major housing societies, the town has turned into an eyesore due to the absence of a dumping ground. As a result, residents are forced to live amidst filthy conditions that pose a health threat.

Baldev Singh, a resident of Zirakpur, said the interior parts of the town were full of garbage and stagnant water that were an open invitation to water-borne diseases. "The threat of epidemic looms large in Zirakpur as the civic body has failed to take note of unhygienic and filthy conditions prevailing here," Sharma added. The problems are most pronounced in areas such as road adjoining Baltana police post, where waste is dumped on the roads, and the market area near old police station under the flyover.

Tilak Raj Sharma, a resident of Hem Vihar in Baltana, said the main road near Sohi Tower that linked over five colonies was in a pathetic condition due to perpetual water-logging.

Mallika Khanna, another Zirakpur resident, said the situation in the town becomes worse during the rainy season when water gets accumulated on the roadside. "Being the satellite town of Chandigarh and Panchkula, cleanliness and maintenance should have been important issues for MC,' Khanna said.

Official sources said Zirakpur municipal council was looking for four-acre land for dumping ground. The proposal had been mooted after Punjab drainage department and local administration ordered the council to not throw garbage and solid waste along Sukhna choe in Bishanpura village.

"The issue of setting up a dumping ground after buying land in a nearby village of the council is likely to be discussed in the upcoming house meeting," said a local councillor.

According to an MC official, the council had earlier identified land in Gazipur village for dumping ground and requested PPCB for permission to set up a proper site. However, officials of the board rejected the site due to its proximity to residential area.