Illegal structures razed during drive at Sector 26 grain market

A joint team of the UT Administration, the Municipal Corporation and the Market Committee removed several illegal structures, including shanties, during an anti-encroachment drive carried out at the Sector 26 mandi here on Wednesday morning.

The drive was carried out on the orders of Deputy Commissioner. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had taken cognisance of the sanitation and encroachment issues at the Grain, Fruit & Vegetable Market, following a news report titled “Muddy roads, heaps of rotten vegetables raise a stink at Sector 26 mandi” published in Chandigarh Tribune on July 24.

However, traders at the grain market expressed displeasure over the drive.

In a statement issued here today, Mohit Sood, president of the Grain Market Welfare Association, Sector 26, and Rahul Goyal, general secretary, said it was shocking to note that no action was taken at the fruit and vegetable market, which was the most congested and had a large number of encroachments.

They said at the same time, long-pending issues such as broken roads, poor sanitation, non-functional street lights, damaged parking facilities and illegal truck parking were completely ignored. They added that traders, who had already been suffering due to these civic issues, were once again the most affected as the drive targeted only them and spared the problem areas.

The association office-bearers strongly urged the Chandigarh Administration to first address the basic infrastructure issues at the market and take similar action against encroachments in the Fruit & Vegetable Market, instead of “unfairly penalising” only traders.

Meanwhile, the condition of the roads inside the mandi deteriorated after rain today. Garbage and sludge added to the inconvenience of visitors.