Bhubaneswar, Sept. 2: A number of development projects of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) are facing resistance because the civic body is yet to formulate an effective mechanism for consulting people in the affected areas before implementing the projects.

The projects facing protests stretch right from the solid waste landfill site near Bhuasuni to the Rajiv Aawas Yojana at Rangmatia.

Bhuasuni plant

The Bhuasuni landfill came up in 2010 and there was also a proposal to build a solid waste recycling plant there. But when the BMC vehicles reached the site in 2010, local residents protested. The matter even went to Chandaka police station and on August 17, 2010, the protesters attacked five BMC drivers.

Suresh Pahadsingh, a resident of Daruthenga, a nearby village, said: “The residents were not consulted before dumping the waste here and the BMC vehicles used to arrive with open trailers. The trailers were covered with nets only after the people protested.”

The plant to treat solid waste has not yet come up with the councillors and the BMC authorities yet to finalise the guidelines for awarding a contract for the work.

Urban expansion

The proposal of the BMC council to take control of 21 more gram panchayats and two revenue villages was finally postponed by the civic body. But it came only in the wake of two massive protests by the gram panchayats concerned — one at Barang and the other at Uttara. The members of many gram panchayats alleged that when the civic body could not manage its responsibilities properly within the 60 existing wards, how would it control a larger area?

Zilla parishad member Sangram Keshari Paikray, who organised meeting of five gram panchayats at Uttara, said: “No BMC official or councillor consulted the public before going for the proposal. In this case the rural areas near the civic body could be converted into several notified area councils first and then they could be incorporated into the urban fold.”

Rangamatia protest

The residents of Rangamatia under ward No. 7 protested the BMC move to go for a demarcation in an area for constructing housing units under Rajiv Awas Yojna scheme. The agitators alleged that officials didn’t reach the spot and no discussions were held with them.

Akshay Parida, a protester, said neither the BMC officials nor the consultants engaged for the field survey actually came to make the people understand the importance of the project.

“The consultants are interested in filling up the forms, for which they will get Rs 40 per person interviewed. In practice, neither the consultant nor the officials visited the area,” councillor Madan Jena said. Sources said that as many as 157 beneficiaries were identified to be relocated and rehabilitated there.

Night shelter

After much hue and cry over the establishment of night shelters in the capital, the BMC authorities decided on four places — Bhimpur, Unit-VI, Baramunda and Ashok Nagar. However, since local residents protested at three places, a foundation was laid only for one night shelter near Kargil Road in Bhimpur (ward No. 30) on local self-government day.

Corporation’s take

BMC commissioner Sanjib Kumar Mishra clarified that in many cases, the protests are either “politically motivated” or egged by some people with “vested interests”.

“We have come to know that in many projects for the urban poor, the real-estate developers are creating problems. If the local councillors do not understand this and take the people’s side, the needy people will lose the benefit of the welfare schemes.”

Speaking on the night shelters, Mishra said: “We are hopeful of selecting alternative sites soon.’’ On the solid waste treatment plant, he said: “The proposed plant will be integrated with the solid waste collection of the city. So, once the tender is floated and the things are through, a Rs 46-crore plant will come up and solve Bhuasuni’s problem.”

Regarding expanding the city limits, the municipal commissioner said the gram panchayats should be made notified area councils first so that in future, they could decide if they wanted to be a part of the BMC or stay independent.