Mohali, Feb. 10 -- Raising serious concerns over deteriorating cleanliness in the city, Mohali mayor Amarjit Singh Sidhu along with several councillors has demanded urgent augmentation of the municipal corporation's (MC's) sanitation workforce during the general house meeting held on Monday. They said that the existing manpower is grossly inadequate to meet the city's needs. The issue was raised after councillors reported garbage piling up on roads, parking areas and footpaths across several sectors, triggering complaints from residents. According to the mayor, Mohali currently has only around 450 sanitation employees on the ground, while the city requires more than 1,500 workers to ensure effective cleaning operations. "Mohali's population and area have expanded significantly, but sanitation manpower has not kept pace. At present, barely 450 sanitation employees are deployed across the city, whereas the actual requirement is at least 1,500. With such limited staff, it is impossible to maintain cleanliness," mayor Sidhu said. Councillor Rupinder Reena said, "In Phase 4, parking lots and roads are full of garbage. Even horticulture waste is being dumped and left on footpaths for days. Sanitation staff also lack basic equipment like tractors and brooms, which is severely affecting cleaning work," she said. The mayor said the matter has been formally taken up with MC commissioner Parminder Pal Singh, with a demand for immediate recruitment of additional sanitation workers. He also demanded strengthening of infrastructure to support waste collection. "We have demanded that more sanitation workers be hired without delay and that at least 50 new trolleys be provided to lift garbage from city roads efficiently. Without proper manpower and equipment, cleanliness drives will remain only on paper," Sidhu said. At present, the city lacks a formal and organised garbage collection system. In many areas, waste is collected by individuals who are not officially hired by the MC. However, the absence of a structured and accountable waste management mechanism has led to persistent complaints from residents. Irregular and untimely garbage collection, unattended waste lying on roads and overflowing RMC points have become common across residential sectors and market areas. MC's much-awaited door-to-door segregated garbage collection project has been temporarily deferred following protests by sanitation workers and allegations of poor coordination ahead of its proposed launch. The Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC) of the MC, under the leadership of mayor Sidhu, approved various development works across the city, worth approximately Rs.18.5 crore. These include construction of new roads, renovation of government washrooms and toilets, and repair works of the Phase-6 Community Centre, among other important projects. The MC on Monday resolved to bring Guru Nanak colony and Aamb Sahib colony within the MC limits, a move expected to benefit around 40,000 residents who are currently outside the jurisdiction of any local civic body. Mayor Sidhu said the residents of these colonies were falling into an administrative vacuum, as they were neither part of the MC, nor panchayats. "While these residents cast their votes in Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha elections, they are excluded from local governance and are not even part of Panchayat elections," the mayor said during the House meeting. He added that the absence of a local civic authority has left residents struggling for basic amenities and routine documentation, including issuance of birth and death certificates, besides problems related to sanitation, roads and other civic services. The resolution will now be sent to the Punjab government for final decision....