An open manhole at Markat Nagar in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, April 11: Orissa High Court has decided to make an on-the-spot inspection of civic amenities in the Markat Nagar satellite township here, which has been developed by the Cuttack Development Authority on the south-western fringes of the city.

“The division bench of Justice M.M. Das and Justice Indrajit Mahanty will make the on-the-spot inspection tomorrow to ascertain the veracity of claims made by the state’s principal secretary of housing and urban development department in an affidavit related to the condition of roads and sewer system in Markat Nagar,” amicus curiae Pravat Ranjan Dash told The Telegraph today.

The court took the decision yesterday while taking stock of compliance of orders issued earlier on petitions related to civic problems in the city.

“The principal secretary of the state housing and urban development department had filed the affidavit after the high court directed for initiation of contempt proceedings on March 20 and asked him to show a cause why he should not be punished for having committed contempt of the court,” Dash said.

The Markat Nagar township project was planned and developed by the CDA in the Bidanasi housing project area. With continuous expansion and addition of more sectors over the past two decades, the township now houses more than a lakh people.

The high court has been monitoring civic works in Markat Nagar for over a year now following allegations that the area’s sewer system and road networks had been badly damaged.

In his affidavit, housing and urban development department’s principal secretary Injeti Srinivas claimed: “The Cuttack Municipal Corporation has taken up works for 14 roads in the Abinaba Bidanasi CDA area from Sector 6 to Sector 11 covering a total length of 4.825km with expenditure of Rs 118.48 lakh out of the CMC fund and other government grants.”