Jalandhar councillor Chadha funds daily fogging amid mosquito surge

Despite the rainy season having started two months ago and mosquito swarms growing in open areas, a Municipal Corporation councillor has proactively initiated fogging operations in his locality.

Paramjot Singh Sherry Chadha, councillor of Ward No. 28, has taken a hands-on approach to mosquito control in his area.

He owns three fogging machines, which are filled daily with chemical and diesel by his personal staff. Chadha personally oversees the fogging operations across key localities in his ward, including Shastri Nagar, Master Tara Singh Nagar, Makhdoompura, Pucca Bagh, and Dhobi Mohalla. In doing so, the councillor says that he has been spending Rs 1,500-2,000 from his own pocket on daily basis. "I kept tell MC officials to get the fogging done in his ward. Since no one paid a heed, I took up the task on myself," he said.

Sherry, who represents the Congress, is also taking care of ward no. 27 where his wife Prabhjot Kaur Chadha is a councillor. On alternate days, he takes the men with fogging machine to his wife's ward falling in Peer Bodla Bazaar, Ucha Suraj Ganj and Kot Pakshian localities.

Sherry says that he had bought three machines in 2017, of which two can be mounted on bikes and are suitable to be taken inside narrow lanes. A bigger one for which an open vehicle is required to be used for driving through main roads. The three machines had then cost him Rs 42,000. He said he has been using the chemicals as per the recommendations of the epidemologist at the local Civil Hospital.

It is not just fogging that Chadha has been getting done on his personal expenses, he claims to be spending more than Rs 70,000 from his pocket for public works which, he says, should have ideally been done by the Municipal Corporation authorities.

"I have recently procured covers of road gullies myself as MC officials failed to pay heed to my demand. I have also hired two men to prune the grass growth and other vegetation on monthly basis. I have personally hired a safai karamchari too for cleanliness required in various parts", he said.

The councillor says that he draws a salary of Rs 16,000 a month from the MC. For his personal income, he owns a readymade garment store in Rainak Bazaar.