People in the city on Monday recalled Jawaharlal Nehru’s role in laying Bhubaneswar’s foundation stone on April 13, 1948, as the Odisha capital marked its 78th foundation day, even as recent criticism by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey of Nehru and Biju Patnaik left many disheartened.
Residents reflected on the city’s transformation from a small town into Odisha’s political, social and cultural hub, while flagging gaps in infrastructure and the effects of politicisation.
Earlier, Cuttack was the capital of Odisha.
Pradosh Patnaik, 78, president of the Capital Foundation Day Celebration Committee, said Bhubaneswar and Chandigarh were planned simultaneously because of Nehru. “Odisha has got such a beautiful city. Had it not been Nehru, we wouldn’t have had it,” he told The Telegraph, recalling its growth and the challenges of drainage, sewerage, traffic and housing.
Patnaik added: “Bhubaneswar has also been a victim of politicisation. Nehru had said a city should not be merely a collection of buildings but a vibrant community centred on its people, aiming to reduce the divide between the rich and the poor. There are many issues that the city is fighting, like having proper drainage and sewerage, traffic and housing for all.”
Nehru had laid the foundation stone of the city near Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT). Later, the plaque of the foundation stone was shifted and reinstalled in the Odisha Assembly.
Mayor Sulochana Das said Nehru’s ideas of sustainability and inclusivity remain relevant, but the city lags behind amid encroached drainage channels, rising land prices and the loss of
green belts.
She stressed coordinated governance and questioned the scrapping of the planned Metro project.
She said: “We need a political will for the development of Bhubaneswar. The Metro railway was planned and the foundation stone was laid by the then chief minister, Naveen Patnaik. What was the need to scrap the project?”
At a state-level programme on Monday, Odisha Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy called for collective efforts for the city’s development.
Vice-president of the Capital Foundation Day Celebration Committee, Pradyumuna Mohanty, said the city, planned by German engineer Otto Konigsberger over 12 square-miles at ₹2.89 crore, has expanded to over 135sqkm.
Built initially for 15,000 people across six units, Bhubaneswar’s population has grown from 16,512 in 1951 to over 15 lakh, alongside rapid expansion in education, healthcare, IT, malls and cinema halls.
The city today has multiple schools, management institutes, around 50 engineering colleges and four universities, besides major hospitals and commercial hubs.
From a single cinema hall, Roop Mandir, (now Ravi Talkies), Bhubaneswar now has seven theatres, reflecting its steady urban evolution.