Women clean roads at Rajabagicha in Cuttack on Friday to protest against lack of sanitation measures by civic body. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Aug. 31: Protests of residents against the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) marked Local Self-Governance Day here today.

As a mark of protest, over 20 women cleaned roads from Rajabagicha to Bamphi Sahi alleging failure on the part of the civic body to maintain all-round sanitation.

“Today, we have cleaned our locality as the corporation is taking no steps to regularly lift garbage and clean drains,” said Saudamini Behera, a local resident.

Women activists of the Barabati Women’s Congress also supported the drive against the civic authority.

“CMC has totally failed to take measures to repair roads and maintain sanitation, which requires special attention during the monsoon. We have decided to gherao the CMC office if things do not improve soon,” said Barabati Women’s Congress (Cuttack) secretary Amrita Das.

The Cuttack Municipal Corporation, on the other hand, observed Local Self Governance Day as a low-key affair with a few projects being formally inaugurated today.

However, no new projects were announced by the corporation, which maintained that efforts were being taken to complete the ongoing ones in the city.

Five vending zones, including one each at Biju Patnaik Chhak, Bidanasi OMP Chhak, near Khapuria slaughterhouse and Jobra were inaugurated besides laying a foundation stone for a new hall of Bikash Bhavan.

Corporation officials said the vending zone at Bidanasi had been established exclusively for the sale of dahibara. The cost of the project is around Rs 3 lakh.

“Today, we have inaugurated five of the 18 vending zones. This has been a demand of the local people for a long time. We will try to carry out a number of developmental works in the coming days,” said mayor Saumendra Ghose.