Tensions flared at Middha Chowk on Tuesday morning after a group of sanitation workers, aggrieved over non-payment of salaries for several months, dumped heaps of garbage on the road and staged a protest, blocking traffic for hours.

The protesting workers, hired by the Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC) on contract around two years ago, claimed they had not received their wages for the past 8 to 10 months. Amid heavy rainfall, the road leading to the garbage compactor site was filled with foul-smelling waste, creating inconvenience for commuters and residents in the area.

The civic body had reportedly hired 154 sanitation workers on contract, but their salary disbursement has remained stuck. Officials said the file related to these workers is under scrutiny after irregularities surfaced in a scam, wherein payments were allegedly made to fake accounts. The MC maintains that the salary cannot be released until the inquiry concludes.

As the protest intensified, members of the Municipal Employees Federation reached the site and met the agitating workers. The workers alleged that although they were put on duty by the MC, there was no clarity on whether they were employed on DC rates or another pay scale. Many said they were being paid just ₹10,000 per month, and even that amount had not come in for nearly a year.

“The officials hired us, made us work daily, but now they are denying us our basic right salary,” said one of the sanitation workers, who did not wish to be named.

Area councillor Kapil Sonu intervened and assured the workers that he would personally speak to mayor Inderjit Kaur to resolve the issue. “I’ve taken up the matter with the mayor. If these workers have served the MC, they deserve to be paid. I will follow up until the salaries are released,” he said.

After hours of disruption, the protest was called off, and the councillor arranged for other MC staff to clean the road and restore normal traffic.

An official from the MC health branch, on condition of anonymity, admitted that the workers had been on rolls for two years but payment was halted amid an ongoing inquiry into a payroll scam. “The inquiry is still incomplete. Until then, decisions related to salaries are pending at the mayor’s level,” the official added.

Residents, meanwhile, criticised the civic body’s silence. “We were stuck for over an hour in the rain with garbage all around. It’s not just about the workers, the system is failing the city,” said Ranjit Singh, a local shopkeeper.