A man cycles past Town Hall in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Jan. 8: The municipal corporation has drawn flak for not being able to complete various projects including for the renovation of the Town Hall.

Though the renovation had begun last year, it has not progressed in the last three months due to delay in administrative approvals following the revision in the project cost.

Corporation officials, on the other hand, said the entire cost of renovation of the Town Hall had been revised to nearly Rs 49 lakh from original estimate of Rs 40 lakh.

Senior officials are optimistic that the renovation would be completed by July this year because all the required tenders and other necessary no-objection certificates for the project have already been completed.

“Due to the paucity of funds, there has been a delay in carrying out the renovation work and we hope that the work will be taken up shortly,” said local councillor Ashok Sharma.

Cuttack Municipal Corporation mayor Saumendra Ghose, at the last council meeting held on December 30, had also expressed concern regarding the various incomplete projects, including the renovation of Town Hall, because of various technical problems.

“There has been inordinate delay in renovating the Town Hall, which has been lying in neglect for the past few years,” said Sudhanshu Dash, a local resident.

He said the civic body has also failed to execute other major projects including the construction of an art gallery and a second foot overbridge at Madhupatna.

Gauri Shankar Ray, torchbearer of the Odia language, established the Town Hall in the 1890s. Since then, it had been the hub of middle-class intellectuals who used the for various events.

The corporation had mooted a proposal for the all-round development of Town Hall based on the assessment report by experts of Jadavpur University in 2010.

The development project was planned because the entire building was in a dilapidated condition.

According to the proposals, the existing roof of the heritage building are expected to be replaced while additional construction in the form of toilet blocks, renovation of the stage, green room and better sound systems are to be installed.

“We hope that the renovation work is completed at the earliest so that the Town Hall can once again become the centre of intellectual deliberations for bringing a positive change in the society,” said Sudhanshu Swain, another local resident.