Pranab Saikia Sector 17C
Would you like to stay at a place where at the entrance of the colony you are greeted by garbage dumps? Would you want to see people relieving themselves in open? No doubt the answer would be a resounding `no'. But, residents of Sector 17C are enduring this ordeal.

Unauthorised parking of public buses at the entrance of the colony and stray animals loitering at the garbage dumps near the colony gates are problems residents here are tired of complaining about. There are two parks in front of colony gate. Buses commuting through NH-8 are parked here thereby creating problems for the residents passing through the area.

Encroachment of the road is something the residents would have endured if it were not for the bus drivers and conductors taking bath in the adjacent parks. When the buses are parked in front of the gate, passengers can be found relieving themselves in the open. "During the night, bus conductors and drivers drink while in the park. In the absence of streetlights and presence of few trees, the visibility in the area is too low," says SR Bhardwaj, general secretary of Resident Welfare Association, Sector 17C. Though the buses encroach on the public space, the traffic police has done nothing to stop them from being parked. The residents allege that somewhere it points to collusion between the two.

Residents have stopped visiting the park due to this. "We cannot even enter the park due to the dirty surroundings. The pathways are completely destroyed," complains Gita Sharma, an area resident.