No respite from stench at Sector 26 mandi

Sanitation continues to remain poor at the Sector 26 fruit and vegetable market here. Though the Market Committee has claimed to have increased the timings for cleaning the mandi, rotten vegetable and garbage left by illegal vendors in the night pose difficulties to the early morning visitors.

One can see hundreds of vendors selling vegetable and fruits in unhygienic conditions in the morning. There are heaps of garbage nearby. The inner roads of the mandi are littered with waste.

Vendors said the mandi was cleaned in the morning. Rotten fruits and vegetables lying on the roads make the market ugly.

Ranjan Kumar, a visitor, said he came in the morning to buy vegetables as he worked on night shift, but was troubled by unsanitary conditions.

Surender, a vendor, said the Market Committee must start sanitation drive early morning so that vegetables and fruits could be sold in hygienic conditions.

Sources in the Market Committee said the cleaning work was not possible in the night as the dumping ground in Dadumajra was shut. Disposal of garbage is a major problem at night, due to which the mandi was cleaned only during the daytime.

An order has been issued to close the fruit and vegetable market from 10 am to 1 pm daily to streamline the cleanliness work. During this period, no sale or purchase is allowed at the site.

Paviter Singh, Administrator of Market Committee, said the committee was committed to improving the sanitation at the mandi. He said, “We are in the process of hiring more employees in the enforcement wing. The process is likely to be completed soon. Once more employees are appointed, we will start enforcement drive in the night also. We will not allow illegal vendors to operate at night as well. Staff will be deputed in shifts to ensure no illegal vending 24x7.” He said illegal vendors threw waste here and there in the night.

Presently, 15 to 20 tonnes of garbage is lifted from the mandi daily. Litterbugs and illegal vendors are issued challan as per recently notified bylaws.

The Market Committee has installed 30 dustbins on the mandi premises. These dustbins are designed to accommodate the high volume of waste generated in a busy market.

Notably, sanitation at the mandi is under the scanner of the Punjab and Haryana High court. The Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry took suo motu cognisance of a news report published in Chandigarh Tribune on July 24 this year on the pathetic condition of the mandi.

Sanjiv Chadha, president of Chandigarh Beopar Mandal, said though the committee took several steps to improve the conditions, there was still lot to be done. He demanded that the responsibility for cleanliness at the mandi should be given to the the Municipal Corporation. He said the MC had sufficient machinery and staff to carry out the work in proper way.

At present, a private agency is looking after the sanitation work at the mandi.