Vendors, shopkeepers beware! Seized items will now be auctioned

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 18

Encroachments outside shops could soon prove costly for traders. Unlike the earlier practice, this time if an item lying in the corridor outside any shop is seized, it will not be returned after a challan, but will instead be auctioned.

MC officials said it was part of the bylaws for street vendors, which were set to be notified this week. After the notification, a special anti-encroachment drive would start.

“Once the bylaws are notified, all seized articles will have to be dismantled. These will then be auctioned and not returned to the violators. We want to make it clear that whether it is a shopkeeper or a vendor, if any encroachment is found, the seized articles will not be returned,” MC Joint Commissioner Tejdeep Singh Saini told Chandigarh Tribune. 

Besides, sources said, the MC would bring an agenda for increasing the challan amount from Rs 500 to Rs 4,500 at a meeting of the Finance and Contract Committee. “The Commissioner had asked us to increase the amount in view of large-scale encroachments in the city. It will come at the meeting for approval,” said an official.

MC officials said at present, the challan depended on the “gravity of encroachment”. The challan ranged from Rs 500 to a maximum of Rs 2,000. Now, the final challan amount will be decided at the meeting. In most markets, shopkeepers keep their articles in the corridors, leaving little space for people to walk.

Some have even rented out the space in front of their shops to vendors. Such encroachments are rampant in Sector 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 34 and 35.