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7 crore since 2024: Crackdown against squatters boosts Chandigarh MC’s revenue

The civic body’s January-June challan revenue rose from ₹96 lakh in 2024 to ₹1.64 crore in 2025 and eventually to ₹1.78 crore this year; roadside vendors constitute most of those targeted

Published on: Aug 10, 2026, 08:52:38 IST
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The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation, which has collected nearly 7 crore by issuing challans to 64,806 encroachers across the city since 2024, has seen a sharp rise in revenue as well as the number of challans issued this year. Roadside vendors constitute most of those targeted.

Roadside vendors constitute most of those targeted during the MC campaign.
Roadside vendors constitute most of those targeted during the MC campaign.

The civic body’s data shows that it fined 19,475 encroachers and collected 2.06 crore in 2024, collected 3.04 crore after issuing challans to 28,561 squatters in 2025, and collected 1.78 crore from 16,770 encroachers in the first six months of 2026. With this, the MC’s cumulative challan revenue amounts to 6.88 crore in 2.5 years.

During the corresponding January-June period in 2024, the MC collected 96.01 lakh through 8,846 challans. In the corresponding period of 2025, the collection jumped to 1.64 crore from 14,583 challans. During January 1 to June 30, the collection of 1.78 crore through 16,770 challans indicates a considerable rise in challan revenue and the number of challans issued.

The MC’s January-June challan revenue has increased by nearly 82 lakh, or about 86%, compared with the corresponding figure of 2024. Compared with the corresponding period of 2025, the collection is up by around 14 lakh, or 9%. The number of challans has increased from 8,846 in the first six months of 2024 to 14,583 in 2025 and 16,770 in 2026.

The increase in revenue comes amid an intensified campaign against encroachments and unauthorised vending. Enforcement teams have shifted street vendors providing non-essential services to their allotted sites, removed temporary and unauthorised vendors and conducted special anti-encroachment drives to restore public spaces and ensure smoother pedestrian and vehicular movement.

The corporation has also distributed 284 smart cards to registered street vendors as part of efforts to improve identification, compliance and record management.

Vendors also vacated sites in Sector 19, Sector 22 and Manimajra that were covered by court stay orders, in compliance with court directions.

Last month, the MC allotted 498 vacant vending sites to eligible vendors through a transparent draw of lots held by its vendor cell across various notified vending zones in the city. The draw was conducted in the presence of MC joint commissioner Himanshu Gupta, councillors and other officials. Following a Supreme Court ruling, the MC was required to reclassify more than 600 vendors and allot them sites in designated vending zones.

 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aneesha Sareen Kumar

Aneesha Sareen is a Special Correspondent at the Hindustan Times head office in Chandigarh. A reporter with two decades of experience, Aneesha has her eyes and ears firmly on the ground. She has extensively covered crime, courts, administration, politics, the Municipal Corporation and industry across Chandigarh and Punjab. During her stint as bureau head in Ludhiana from 2016 to 2023, she led a team of young journalists reporting across the length and breadth of the industrial city and its surrounding areas. Currently, she covers politics and Administration in Chandigarh. When not chasing stories, Aneesha enjoys travelling and exploring new cuisines.

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