Ramps can be seen all across the city. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 20: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to demolish concrete slabs and ramps built by people at the entrance of their houses as they block the smooth flow of drains.

The corporation has asked ward officers in different areas of the city to prepare a list of house owners who have violated the norms by covering the drains outside their houses by putting up slabs or ramps.

These will be demolished by the corporation’s enforcement wing, according to a decision taken recently at the ward officers’ meeting.

Deputy municipal commissioner, Priyadarshi Mohapatra, who presided over the meeting, also asked the ward officers to keep a watch on solid waste disposal in the BMC-managed wards, where the task has been assigned to private operators. A majority of the councillors have alleged that solid waste disposal system is not functioning properly in these wards. Ward officers are employees of BMC who are supposed to keep a watch on the civic works being carried out in the wards by different agencies. The meeting of ward officers takes place every month. The meeting has also decided to clear encroachment along a road in Ward No. 5, in the conservancy lanes of Rental Colony besides a vending zone near the Omfed Square in Chandrasekharpur.

It was also decided that steps would be taken against unauthorised slums near Sainik School, an Omfed booth near Ruchika Market in Barmunda and encroachment of a road near Kanchanjunga Apartment.

The BMC has also decided to take a serious view of dumping of building material by individuals or builders on the roads. Sources said that those indulging in such activities would first be issued warnings and then the material dumped them by would be seized.

“The BMC has powers under sections 343 and 344 of the Orissa Municipal Corporation (OMC) Act 2003, to take action against encroachment of any kind. The violators in such cases can even be fined and their materials seized,” a BMC official said. According to section 344 of the OMC Act, the BMC commissioner has the power to impose a fine of Rs 300 for half a tractor load of such dumped material and Rs 500 for a truckload of material recovered from any violator. A senior BMC officer said as far as solid waste is concerned, private operator managing the waste in Ward No. 39 has been asked to employ adequate manpower to do the job efficiently. “Only if they have enough people to do the job, it be done properly,” he said.

Another important issue discussed at the meeting was regarding streetlight. As many complain that the work of fixing bulbs in the lampposts was affected due to the shortage of ladder-mounted vehicles. The meeting decided that at least three such ladder-mounted vehicles should be made operational within a month. The meeting also asked the ward officers and the city health officer to ensure that the transit transfer stations used by the solid waste management wing remain clean and they do not pollute the surrounding environment.