Bhubaneswar, July 21: The civic body has suddenly woken up from a three-year slumber to claim its share in an office-cum-shopping complex at Unit-IV.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) had entered into a public-private partnership with M/s Panchadeep Construction Limited for the complex in 1999.

According to the agreement, the BMC provided 0.386 decimals at Unit-IV for the project free of cost, while Panchadeep took care of the construction cost.

The current value of the land is expected to be in the tune of a few crores.

After completion of the project, the BMC and Panchadeep were supposed to share the property in a 65:35 ratio. However, Panchadeep allegedly did not hand over its share to the BMC.

After a three-year gap, the BMC woke up to the reality and today issued a notice to Panchadeep to explain why it was yet to hand over the civic body's share. The BMC notice also warns the builders that it would take possession of the entire property if the executor failed to give any satisfactory explanation.

However, no one in the civic body is willing to explain why it did not take any action against Panchadeep for failing to hand over the due share in all these years.

"We had entered into an agreement with Panchadeep to construct the market complex. According to the agreement, the executor got four-year's time to complete the project. But, it got delayed by several years. We have decided to take a strong step now and get our share or the entire property," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

The commercial complex, which was scheduled to come up by 2003, was completed in 2014 due to problems in land acquisition and opposition from local vendors.

"Non-availability of land had been the main reason behind the delay of the project," said an office-bearer of Panchadeep, refusing to comment on the showcause notice.

The BMC has also issued a public notice and cautioned prospective traders not to take any property in the six-storey complex. "The Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) has not yet issued occupancy certificate for the complex to traders as the general public is cautioned not to buy any unit without verifying the occupancy certificate," the notice reads.

The Telegraph had on April 18 reported that Panchadeep had taken money from traders promising them shops inside the complex. However, it could not allot the shops as it does not have the BDA's approval. The BDA has decided not to give occupancy certificate after inspections revealed deviations by Panchadeep from the original plan.

The six-storey complex has nearly 250 shops. The private partner has been able to allot only a few shops to some people, while most remain unoccupied. The shops that have been allotted also do not have any occupancy certificate from the BDA.

"The project has been nothing but a sheer waste of public money and valuable land at a strategic location of the city," said Vimal Nath, a shopkeeper at Unit-IV Daily Market.