TELLING DISPARITY: The plaque announces the setting up of a multi-storeyed office building for Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation. A year has gone by, but the Kalpana Square building is yet to come up. (Right) The renovated municipality zonal dispensary at Kapilaprasad is an example of positive development for which foundation stone was laid on Local Self Government Day in 2010. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 2: Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) put up a well-designed plaque right at the centre of its own office on Local Self-Government Day last year. The plaque announces the construction of a multi-storeyed office complex for the corporation.

However, this plaque seems to have been forgotten now even as many projects were inaugurated during Local Self-Government Day celebrations this time.

“Forget about projects in other parts of the city. When a promise was not kept right inside the BMC office premises, you can imagine the seriousness of the business undertaken by the civic authorities. The plaque is lying forgotten inside the yard of the mechanical wing,” said a councillor.

The councillor added that last August after the plaque was put up on the BMC premises they had heard that a new multi-storeyed structure for the corporation would be built in Unit-VIII where the Bachelors’ Barrack was located earlier.

“The officials had advocated transforming the present building into a zonal office after the multi-storeyed main building came up in Unit-VIII. But if that was the plan, then why was the plaque placed (on the premises of BMC) in the first place and money spent on the ceremony? It shows that there is lack of accountability and credibility in announcing projects and schemes,” said the councillor.

According to BMC sources, the present office building has been operating from the days of the notified area council. When the city’s civic administration transformed into a corporation, the building continued to operate from a congested space. It needed to be moved to a larger space.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena admitted that the buzz regarding the Unit-VIII plot for the BMC office building was now over as it was clear that the corporation would not be able to get the land plot identified. A central office could, however, come up in Sahid Nagar. The exact location is yet to be identified.

“The central office would be located somewhere else. Why should we build it inside the old campus?” said Jena.

One of the most prominent projects from those announced on Local Self-Government Day last year was the street lighting project from Naka Gate to Kalinga Nagar in ward No. 28 on Khandagiri-Chandaka Road. But a year later, many lights are out of order.

Local residents are suffering because of this. “The lights that are not functioning will soon be replaced. We have already informed the electrical division and the staff will replace those soon,” said councillor Sarojini Dalei.

Even as a park inaugurated last year in Nayapalli was decorated with lights this year, a community park inaugurated in ward No. 58 in Bhimatangi on the same day last year is wallowing in neglect, with no lights. “The wards in the peripheral regions in the city are always neglected. As a resident of the Bhimatangi for the past 20 years, I wish the civic authorities would give attention to the park,” said Ganesh Parida, who is now retired.

There is still hope for the zonal dispensary in Kapilaprasad (ward No. 57) that falls under the Municipal Corporation Hospital. It was renovated at an estimated cost of Rs 13 lakh and inaugurated this year. “The project was completed in a year’s time and this will certainly help the local people. Six more beds will be added soon. The renovation programme was announced last year on Local Self-Government Day,” said councillor Krushna Chandra Sethi.