Bhubaneswar, Sept. 13: Residents of Nayapali and adjoining areas are up against municipal corporation's plan to set up its main office by demolishing a kalyan mandap at Unit-VIII.

The kalyan mandap has been serving as a platform for hosting social functions.

Since the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) initiated steps to set up the headquarters, the residents have been writing letters to the government urging not to go ahead with the plan.

Retired revenue department employee Yudhisthir Chhotaray, 67, said they had been writing letters to the housing and urban development department seeking action to stop the plan of the BMC. The government then wrote to the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) to examine the claims of residents.

"But the BDA vice-chairman and the BMC commissioner are the same person. So the BDA gave a report in favour of demolishing the kalyan mandap and setting up the official building here. That's why we have again requested the government to take appropriate steps not to raze the community hall here," said Chhotaray.

He also added that they had been requesting the authorities to use the existing premises as the head office or the vacant land in front of Unit-VIII kalyan mandap. Besides, the authorities can set up the office at the vacant space lying behind Durga Puja mandap at Saheed Nagar and that location would be the best place for it, he said.

Following the letter from the residents, the housing and urban development department has again written a letter to the BDA to examine the matter and submit a report in this regard.

"We had given a report earlier and if the government wants we will again examine the issue," said a senior BDA officer.

The BMC plans to set up a multi-storeyed office building for Rs 100 crore at the controversial location.

The residents said that if the corporation had taken them into confidence, there would not have been such objection to any proposal. The authorities plan themselves and try to impose it on the public and this leads to opposition, a resident said.

Another plan of building a modern abattoir at Gadhakana has also been opposed by local residents. Though the authorities had planned to portray it as a future project on the self-government day on August 31, they could not go ahead with it, as there was no clear picture whether the project would come up there or not.

The BMC and police have been holding meetings regularly with the residents, but opposition to it persists despite the corporation trying to fulfil their demands.