Lack of toilets and poor sanitation among major problems

Ramkrishan Upadhyay 

Tribune News Service 

Chandigarh, December 30

Traders of Sector 24 markets say that the area has been neglected by the Municipal Corporation and the Administration for a while now.  

The area has two main markets —one in Sector 24-C and another in Sector 24-D — and a booth market, all of which have been facing several problems. 

Surinder Jagota, trader and former MC Councillor, said apparently, Sector 24 markets have ceased to exist for the MC. He said there was no toilet in the Sector 24-D market. "It is perhaps the only market where the provision for toilets has not been made by the authorities," he said.

Rajan Mahajan, another trader, said they have been raising the demand for a toilet for a long time, but in vain. "Due to this, traders and the visitors are a harried lot. The condition of the markets belies the MC's tall claims of undertaking Swachh Bharat Abhiyan across the city," he said.  

Ravinder Singh Billa, president, Market Welfare Association, Sector 24-C, said tiles and paver blocks in the market have been broken at several places. 

The sanitation condition of the market is also unsatisfactory. One can see heaps of garbage lying across the area. 

Billa said the MC was also relocating vendors in the area which will add to the problem for residents and traders. He said a lot of doctors reside in the area and they complain that shifting vendors to the market might create a lot of chaos.