Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation is set to celebrate Local Self-Government Day in a big with an array of projects ready for launch and foundation stone laying ceremonies lined up for Wednesday. A day ahead of the event, Sandeep Mishra of The Telegraph finds out the status of major projects initiated on this day in the past two years
Project: BMC office at Unit-VIII
♦ Foundation stone laid: 2015
♦ Cost: Rs 40 crore
♦ Status: No development
♦ Official reason: Opposition from local residents
Project: Unit-I daily market renovation
♦ Foundation stone laid: 2015
♦ Cost: Rs 105 crore
♦ Status: 40 govt quarters demolished, eviction drive pending
♦ Official reason: Protests by vendors operating at the site
Project: Multi-specialty hospital at Gadakana
♦ Foundation stone laid: 2015
♦ Cost: Rs 255 crore
♦ Status: No development. Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation organised an investors’ meet and a road show at Hyderabad recently to lure investors
♦ Official reason: Firm that had evinced interest gave up on the project a few months ago
Project: Modern slaughterhouse at Gadakana
♦ Foundation stone laid: 2015
♦ Cost: Rs 6.40 crore
♦ Status: No development
♦ Official reason: Sustained opposition from residents and delay in selecting bidder
...and three successes
Project: Rajiv Awas Yojana to rehabilitate slum-dwellers of Mandap Basti and Munda Sahi at Chandrasekharpur
♦ Foundation stone laid: 2014
♦ Cost: Rs 30 crore
♦ Status: Two of the five blocks are nearly complete. Tender has been invited to construct the remaining three blocks
♦ Officials say: Work is going on schedule. It is slated to finish by the end of this year
Project: Water ATMs
♦ Project announced: 2014
♦ Cost: Rs 12.5 lakh each
♦ Status: Ready
Project: Foot overbridge
♦ Foundation stone laid: 2013
♦ Cost: Rs 3 crore
♦ Status: Ready
Pictures by Ashwinee Pati
