Bhubaneswar, April 20: Senior citizen and Pokhariput resident Hemanta Dash had to suffer because he believed in what mayor Ananta Narayan Jena had announced on April 10.

Inaugurating the new offices of the planning, land, enforcement and recovery wings of the municipal corporation at the BMC-Bhawani Mall, Jena had said that the departments would start operation from their new premises from April 11.

However, when Dash went to the BMC-Bhawani Mall yesterday to enquire about a land record relating to a road work at Pokhariput, he saw to his dismay that the new offices were closed.

The harassed elderly citizen then went to the old office of the land department, which to his surprise was still operating out of their old premises at the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation headquarters in Gautam Nagar.

"I went to Bhawani Mall to check a file, but had to bear the pain of going to the old premises at Gautam Nagar as the offices at the new location was closed," said Dash.

The Telegraph team had a similar experience when it visited the BMC-Bhawani Mall today. The shutters of all the BMC departments were down.

Like Dash and The Telegraph team, several others residents had to bear the harassment of going to the new location only to find the offices closed.

Deputy commissioner and corporation's public relations officer Srimanta Mishra said: "The shifting of the premises will be done once an official order is issued. I think the process will start within three to four days."

A senior engineer of the corporation on condition of anonymity said: "In 2012-13, there were only six Odisha Administrative Service officials working in the BMC, but now the number has reached 13 so we need more rooms for the employees at the old office building. If the four wings shift to the new building, it will be easy to accommodate the rest here."

The 7,000sqft area at BMC-Bhawani Mall has all amenities.

"We have provided all basic amenities for the employees here. Work should begin as soon as possible," said finance and taxation standing committee chairman Seikh Nizammudin.

There are also a few employees who are reluctant to move into the new office.

"We will not shift there as we have to take a huge bunch of documents, maps and drawings from here to Saheed Nagar," said an employee of the land section.

An official said once the planning cell, land section, recovery and enforcement wings start functioning from the new office, the Odisha Development Authority Act court would also shift there.