Now Reading: Chandigarh MC earns ₹7 crore by fining 64,806 squatters
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Chandigarh MC earns ₹7 crore by fining 64,806 squatters
The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation has collected nearly ₹7 crore from 64,806 challans issued since 2024, with roadside vendors accounting for the bulk of those fined. In 2024, the MC fined 19,475 encroachers…
The Story in Brief
The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation has collected nearly ₹7 crore from 64,806 challans issued since 2024, with roadside vendors accounting for the bulk of those fined. In 2024, the MC fined 19,475 encroachers and collected ₹2.06 crore; in 2025 it collected ₹3.04 crore from 28,561 challans. The first half of 2026 alone brought ₹1.78 crore from 16,770 challans, an 86% jump over the same period in 2024.
The revenue surge follows an intensified anti-encroachment drive that has removed unauthorised vendors and cleared public spaces. To improve compliance, the corporation has distributed 284 smart cards to registered vendors and last month allotted 498 vacant vending sites through a draw held in the presence of officials. The drive also saw vendors vacate sites in Sectors 19, 22 and Manimajra following court directions.
The Indian Opinion
Some will hail this as a clean-up of public space; others will see a tax on the poor. The truth is more layered. Many roadside vendors lack formal sites, yet the corporation has allotted only 498 of thousands of vending spots and issued just 284 smart cards. Making law-and-order pay for itself is fine, but if the civic body treats fines as a revenue stream without matching it with rehabilitation, it will merely shift the problem. The test: how many of those 64,806 fined vendors now have a legal place to sell?
Source: hindustantimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
