Gurugram: How do you clean a city that’s already clean? By first making it dirty. And that’s what Chandigarh Municipal Corporation workers did, ahead of a sanitation drive by Union Urban Development Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s in the sector 22 market. Now the corporation has suspended two officials for “dereliction of duty” and ordered an investigation.
Soon after the Swachhata Hi Seva campaign in Chandigarh on 25 September, the birth anniversary of Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Khattar posted pictures of himself on X, sweeping the market with a broom, wearing a mask.
The X post by the Office of Manohar Lal and reposted by Khattar from his personal handle on September 25, reads, “Shri @mlkhattar, Hon’ble Union Minister, joined citizens at Sector 22, Chandigarh for the ‘Ek Din, Ek Ghanta, Ek Saath’ initiative”.
Chandigarh Municipal Corporation also posted pictures on its social media X with a message on 25 September, “Proud Moment for Chandigarh!! Union Minister Sh. Manohar Lal Khattar joins Swachhata Hi Seva campaign in Chandigarh! Participated in the ‘Ek Din, Ek Ghanta, Ek Saath’ cleanliness drive at Sector 22.”
But it’s the pictures and videos that emerged after this have gone viral. They show some corporation workers reaching the market with a tractor trolley full of dried leaves and bits of paper in the middle of the night, hours before Khattar’s sanitation drive. They are seen spreading the leaves and paper everywhere, presumably so the minister could ‘clean’ the area later.
The videos show ‘Nagar Nigam Chandigarh’ written on the trolley.
After the videos went viral, the Municipal Corporation suspended two officials for “dereliction of duty”. Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla confirmed the development when contacted by ThePrint on Saturday and shared the order of their suspension.
The officials have been identified as Chief Sanitary Inspector Kulbir Singh and Sanitary Inspector Sukh Prakash Sharma. The orders signed by the Commissioner, Amit Kumar on 26 September said, “The following officials, namely, Kulbir Singh, CSI and Sukhparkash Sharma are hereby placed under suspension with immediate effect on account of dereliction of duty during the function of the Hon’ble Union Minister, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Sh Manohar Lal Khattar Ji, held on 25th September 2025. Both the aforesaid officials are hereby ordered to report to the MOH (Medical officer of Health) office during the suspension period.”
A Haryana government employee who lives in the official residences right behind Sector 22 market told ThePrint, requesting anonymity, that when he passed the market on his morning walk on Wednesday, he was surprised to see the unusual amount of trash.
“People in Chandigarh are not like the ones we come across when we go to our village or to a small town in Haryana. People here will unfailingly put empty water bottles, empty paper bags, or other trash in dry and wet boxes installed in the market. People do witness dry leaves on roadsides or markets in Chandigarh, but that is only during the fall season. I looked at trees around and found all carrying green leaves. Also, the leaves spread on the floor were not close to the trees,” said the official quoted above.
Incidentally, Chandigarh is a consistent name among the top 10 cleanest cities in India.
Contacted by ThePrint before the suspensions were announced, Chandigarh Municipal Commissioner Amit Kumar heard out the issue, but the phone was disconnected without an answer. He didn’t respond to calls made on his mobile phone.
However, when ThePrint sought his comments after sending him viral videos on his WhatsApp, Kumar replied with “Under Investigations”.
Mayor Harpreet Kaur Babla told ThePrint: “I spoke to the commissioner after watching the videos and told him that something glaring has been done, which can’t go unpunished. I have told him to conduct an investigation and punish the guilty so that our reputation isn’t tarnished,” Babla added.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: Five years after Modi washed their feet, Kumbh sanitation workers’ fight for dignity continues