The district administration has directed all owners of vacant plots to remove stagnant water from their properties. The directions have also been issued to the local Municipal Corporation, the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Urban Development) and the Chief Administrator, Patiala Development Authority, to get the plots cleaned by their respective owners or else recover cleanliness charges from the latter.

Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney said the vacant plots and low-lying places in the district got filled with rainwater after the recent rains. “The owners of such plots should get their properties cleaned and stagnant rainwater removed at the earliest as the failure to do so will result in the spread of diseases,” she said.