Cuttack, May 14: The civic body has issued closure notices to 104 kalyan mandaps or banquet halls for operating without licence.

The city has 180 kalyan mandaps used mostly for marriage celebrations and various other social events.

"Closure notice has been issued to 104 kalyan mandaps in pursuance of an Orissa High Court order," Cuttack Municipal Corporation commissioner Gyana Das told The Telegraph today.

"These kalyan mandaps were contributing traffic chaos by increasing congestion on roads in various parts of the city. The approach roads to these venues were also not suitable for parking vehicles," he said.

The court has been adjudicating on a public interest litigation seeking intervention against functioning of kalyan mandaps without parking area and solid waste disposal facilities. It had first sought a detailed report from the civic body on the number of kalyan mandaps, which had no parking areas, garbage disposal facilities and were functioning illegally. The corporation had submitted before the court a report indicating that applications for licence had been received from only 76 of the total 180 banquet halls.

Taking note of it, the high court issued orders for closure of the remaining 104 kalyan mandaps on March 16. The order said: "Both the corporation as well as police authorities shall take immediate steps for closure of such kalyan mandaps and banquet halls, which have not made application for issuance of licence."

"Steps are being taken to ensure physical closure of the kalyan mandaps with the help of police," the municipal commissioner said.

While taking stock of the implementation of the closure order on Thursday, the court expressed displeasure over the progress made by the civic body in this regard in nearly two months.

"The division bench of Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice S.C. Parija have directed the Cuttack Municipal Corporation to submit a compliance report within one week," amicus curiae Arun Kumar Budhia said.

The court expected compliance of the order by May 19, the date fixed for next sitting of the bench, which has been adjudicating public interest litigations on civic problems in Cuttack city.

The municipal commissioner said: "We hope to get the required police assistance to stop all the 104 kalyan mandaps from functioning by the assigned date."