Agricultural Marketing Board declares Chandigarh's sector 26 mandi no-vending zone

In a move to decongest the Sector 26 mandi, the State Agricultural Marketing Board, Chandigarh, has cancelled all permissions given by the Municipal Corporation to vendors to operate inside the mandi. As the civic body has failed to shift all vendors from the mandi to some other designated vending zones, they have challenged the decision of the Marketing Board before the Grievance Redressal and Disputes Resolution Committee of the MC.

In their applications filed under Section 20 of the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014, the vendors have sought the issuance of appropriate order or directions to the respondents to permit them to earn their livelihood by operating from a site identified in a survey in the mandi earlier.

They have also prayed that they may be granted an interim relief by giving them permission to work as street vendors at the vending site till the disposal of the applications, so they are not be deprived of their livelihood.

Meanwhile the market committee has requested the Chandigarh SSP to initiate appropriate action against the illegal/unauthorised vendor. The committee has stated that vendors are operating stalls/rehris in the Sector 26 mandi, which creates not only obstructions to the public but also lead to traffic congestion and sanitation problems. These vendors are regularly removed by the enforcement staff of the committee. However, they again occupy the space after some time and also obstruct anti-encroachment drives.

The committee requested that the Sector 26 police be directed to immediately register cases against such vendors, upon receiving complaints from the committee office or from public.

The encroachments and the sanitation issues are under the scanner of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The Market Committee is facing a PIL with the High Court taking suo motu notice of the Chandigarh Tribune news report dated July 24, 2025 — “Muddy Roads, heaps of rotten vegetables raise a stink at Sector 26 Mandi Chandigarh”. Suraj Kumar, a resident of Sector 7, said after the market committee removed the vendors, they had encroached on the roads around the mandi. These rehris lead to traffic chaos around the mandi every day, he said.

After the High Court’s notices, the UT Administrator, Gulab Chand Kataria, visited the mandi on December 15, 2025. During his visit, directions were issued that the mandi is a wholesale market, so all street vendors engaged in retail sales shall be shifted somewhere else.