Bhubaneswar, May 6: Residents of the city have been forced to cough up more money with the onset of the marriage season as dearth of the municipal corporation-owned kalyan mandaps still looms large.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has seven such mandaps and two community centres across the city to organise social events, including marriages. This is, by all means, insufficient to meet the demands of the people.

These venues charge between Rs 6,700 and Rs 20,200, and most of them are booked one month before the event.

However, the people who don’t book the kalyan mandaps early are forced to host marriage parties at private venues, which charge double the money.

The kalyan mandaps are located at Nayapalli, Saheed Nagar, VSS Nagar, Chandrasekharpur, Badagada and Old Town. The two community centres are located at Shastri Nagar and Unit-VIII.

Sources said the private marriage venues charge around Rs 40,000 for hosting a ceremony.

The city has around 100 private marriage venues, which, however, lack proper parking facilities.

Though a number of small and big hotels in the city, hosting marriage ceremonies, do not take the rent, yet the high price of food keeps these venues out of reach of the common man.

“I have been searching for a marriage venue since the past one month. I have found that all kalyan mandaps owned by the civic body are booked. The hotels charge a single meal in the range of Rs 400 to Rs 2,000, which is not affordable for me. Therefore, I had to arrange my daughter’s marriage ceremony at my home,” said Bhagyarabi Behera, a resident of Rasulgarh.

Though the corporation mooted a proposal to set up 19 kalyan mandaps across the city last year, it is yet to get the required land from the general administration department. The mandaps that are to come up in plots measuring between 0.3 acres and 0.5 acres are to be set up for Rs 2 crore each. The corporation had also allocated Rs 50 lakh for repairing the existing mandaps.

“We had requested the general administration department to alienate lands in favour of the corporation for setting up kalyan mandaps last year. But, we are yet to get the plots,” said a senior official of the civic body.

Apart from charging exorbitant prices for organising marriage parties, the private venues also create traffic problems in the city. The garbage generated from the venues is also dumped indiscriminately, creating problems for the residents.

“The population of the city is increasing rapidly. But, the corporation only has a handful of mandaps. By setting up more such venues in the city the civic body will not only help residents, but also add to its revenue,” said Artatrana Jena, a resident of Patia.

Assistant commissioner of police (traffic) Binod Das said the police would continue its drive against the illegally parked vehicles near the private marriage venues.

“We have asked the municipal authorities to serve notices to the private mandaps that create traffic problems,” said Das.