New Delhi: The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (CMC) Saturday morning imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s residence for littering. The fine on the CM’s residence, located in Sector 2 of Chandigarh, was issued in the name of DSP Harjinder Singh from the CRPF battalion 113, part of his security team.
Speaking to ThePrint, BJP CMC Councillor Maheshinder Singh Sidhu confirmed that a challan had been issued “out of compulsion” after repeated warnings by the CMC.
“The littering had been going on for over a year. Usually when the chief minister is inside, 250 to 300 people are also there in the residence. A lot of garbage, which included domestic and kitchen waste and horticulture waste, was being thrown on both sides of House No. 7, which is situated in one of the posh areas of Chandigarh,” said Sidhu.
The challaned house is one of four that make up the CM’s residence and are located within the same compound. According to Sidhu, when the CMC officials asked the guards present at the CM’s residence to call someone from the security, DSP Singh had been called.
“It is also a residential area so we were receiving a lot of complaints about it. Corporation’s vehicles would carry away the garbage every two to three days but it was still a major issue. We had also issued multiple warnings earlier, but that did not help either,” he added.
According to Sidhu after some renovation in the CM residence, some toilet seats and washbasins had also been dumped on the road last week. “Then we had no choice but to issue a challan,” he said, adding that such challans are common under the Swachh Bharat Mission to keep the city free of litter.
According to reports, CMC has been cracking down on defaulters caught littering in public and has issued 89 challans over the past few months.
The challan to CM’s residence was issued for violating the Solid Waste Regulation and Management Act, 2018. The receipt, a copy of which has been seen by ThePrint, also shows that the violator “refused to sign” on the receipt.
On asking whether the CMC official has received any communication from Mann’s office, Sidhu said, “We received a call from CRPF DSP Harjinder Singh. He told us that his battalion moved to the residence just a couple of days ago. Earlier the Punjab Police battalion was in the CM’s residence, and as they were clearing out, they dumped some of their garbage on the road. He said that they will be mindful next time.”
The purpose of the challan, added Sidhu, is to sensitise and it may be reduced as per the commissioner’s orders, or be adjusted in the water bill if not paid.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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