Land sharks have usurped the traditional village ponds that used to recycle water. These were also used for water harvesting. These ponds would also serve bathing place for animals.

The authorities concerned could not even protect the hydraulic engineering of the British era the Leisure Valley cum Rose Garden, famously known as Challih Khuh, the second green lung of the city after Ram Bagh gardens.

Spread over 40 acres, it offers a wonderful and rare sight in the densely-populated area of Jodda Phatak locality. The 40 wells (khuhs) located in the park had supplied water to the city for about 70 years. It is associated with the advent of the first usage of technology for water supply in the state. The modern system of water supply in Punjab came with the arrival of the British. It was in 1902 that the Head Water Works, as the department was then called, undertook a massive project that covered the three major cities of Punjab at that time — Patiala, Ludhiana and Amritsar.

As many as 12 wells were bored in Patiala, while Ludhiana had 24 wells, and Amritsar had the maximum of 40. The level of progress Amritsar had attained at that time can be gauged from the differences between the number of wells bored in Amritsar and other cities.

The British engineers had laid down a well-planned uninterrupted water supply system supplemented by a green cover around it. They used 125-horse-power diesel-operated engine to harness water. They had also constructed residential quarters and bungalows for their employees there. These buildings are still intact. However, these days a few employees of the Amritsar Municipal Corporation are ready to live there, even as adjoining this residential complex is a big pool of stagnant water. It has become a place for breeding of mosquitoes, and stench can be smelled from afar.

So much so that the moat around the historic Ram Bagh and the twelve gates were dismantled in the name of development.

The administration, however, claims that owing to the scarcity of funds and poor security cover, the garden could not be restored to its pristine glory.