Poor road condition in Kendrapara. Telegraph picture

Kendrapara, Sept. 7: Citizens of this district headquarters township are up in arms against Kendrapara Municipality alleging fast-declining state of civic amenities.

They are also crying to probe into “irregularities” perpetrated by the municipality as its present council is all set to complete its five-year tenure.

Residents of this township widely believe that standard of civic amenities and facilities provided to the urban area by the municipality have reached an all-time low. They allege that never before such sorry state of affairs prevailed here.

“Sizeable portions of the main road traversing through the township are in bad shape. But the road is not in a motorable state in stretches near the new bus stand, Baniamal, Kakat, Badahat, Madhial, Santasahi Bridge, Keshpur Bazar and Sanamangala,” said Hibzur Rehaman, a councillor of the municipality.

He added that the sewerage and drainage networks were also left much to be desired. Filth and squalor pervades everywhere in gross absence of sanitation and cleanliness measures undertaken by the civic body. Clogged drains and water bodies have also turned into breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

“The authorities do not clean up the streets, lanes and by-lanes on a daily basis. As a result, waste and garbage get piled up creating unhealthy environment in many areas. Places such as Tinimuhani, College Chowk, Bus Stand, Bhaskar Cinema Chowk, Santasahi, Medical Road, Mankarpur, Bhagabanpur, Iswarpur, and Block Office Chowk present nauseating and sickening sight of squalor and dirtiness,” said Banshidhar Sethy, a former councillor.

“Though Kendrapara Municipality is the oldest civic body in the state, large-scale corruption and administrative mismanagement have come in the way of its ability to deliver. Everything is going out of order here. Tax payers have got exasperated at the sorry state of affairs,” said Rama Chandra Behera, a former principal of Kendrapara Autonomous College.

“Grants to the tune of over Rs 5 crore were released towards the municipality for upgrade of roads, sewerage, drainage, water supply and sanitation system. Had the grants been judiciously used, the urban wards would have worn luxuriant look by now. Misappropriation of funds occurred in large scale, putting the basic civic services in reverse gear,” said Bijoy Krushna Sahu, former chairman of Kendrapara Municipality.