“I want a neat and clean city, and you make all efforts to achieve this. You have got a free hand to get things implemented, but the result should be visible,” said Sukhbir, who was in the city.

He asked for night cleaning services so as not to create a hassle for the residents.

Garbage can be seen littered at more than 300 different locations in the city. Earlier, this number used to be around 200.

Confirming this communication from the Deputy CM, the Municipal Commissioner said, “There are no notified garbage collection points in the city, so first we need to earmark those areas. Later, the 4,000 employees of sanitation wing need to be monitored by a professional agency. As of now, things are going in a traditional way.”

He added, “We are already working on making Ludhiana a litter-free city and are making a project on how to implement things fast.”

Talking about A2Z — the private company picking garbage from various points in the city — Verma said, “Their garbage collection has improved a lot. Earlier, they used to pick around 750 tonnes of garbage in a day which has now increased to about 1,000 tonnes. They are now making 113 trips a day including the night trips. Picking of garbage still needs a holistic approach and we are working on it.”