New residential blocks at Gothapatana and (above) real estate development along NH-203 on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Many city areas, especially those on the outskirts, still lack basic civic infrastructure. The Telegraph takes a look at Gothapatana, Kalinga Vihar and areas located along the bypass on NH-203 that are crying for better civic facilities

Gothapatana

Location: Nearly 15km from the heart of the city and one of the fastest-growing areas on the outskirts. The area has several institutions such as International Institute of Information Technology and International Management Institute. It's now a hub of real-estate activities with hundreds of high-rise buildings coming up

Water supply: Pipe water supply is not available. Institutions and real-estate developers depend on ground water

Electricity: This is one this that is amply available as Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation is developing plots for various institutions here

Road network: Internal roads yet to be developed

Sewerage: Sewer network is still a far cry

Street lights: All roads do not have the facility as it is yet to be included within corporation limits

Law & order: Area is in the jurisdiction of city police

Residentspeak

Urban infrastructure is being developed at slow pace. The state government should learn from other states such as Gujarat

Jitendra Senapati

Officialspeak

We are going to develop a 100-acre area with affordable housing in Gothapatana. Infrastructure provisions are on the cards and we are trying to introduce public transport support system at the earliest

Anjana Panda

Official, housing and urban development department

Kalinga Vihar

Location: Developed in 1994 on city outskirts near Patrapada by the Bhubaneswar Development Authority. Several years have passed, but area yet to come under corporation wings. Locality was developed by acquiring land from five villages in the vicinity. While residents avail several civic amenities, it still remains a panchayat areaWater supply: Pipe-water supply mechanism developed by BDA and later handed over to public health engineering organisation

Electricity: Power supply in place since inceptionRoad network: Well-connected roads and internal roads as well

Sewerage: Old sewer system is defunct so people depend on individual soak pits

Street lights: The area is well lit, but residents are at a war with BDA over payment of dues

Law & order: Area's police outpost is within Tamando police limits

Residentspeak

State government should include our area under municipal corporation limits. Once that happens, corporation will take care of street lights and we will not have to bother about power billsBidhu Bhusan Samanta

Officialspeak

A proposal to bring Kalinga Vihar under the corporation has already been sent to the housingand urban development department. We are awaiting for its responseAnanta Narayan Jena, mayor

Areas adjacent to NH-203 bypass

Location: NH-203 bypass starts from Pandra and goes up to Lingipur. There it meets NH-203 near Daya bridge. After the bypass became functional during Rathyatra last year, real-estate activities began along the 12km stretch. With unplanned growth on both sides of the road, the entire area is bound to face major problems as there are no roads to connect the plots

Water supply: There is supply network and people are depending only on bore well

Electricity: Power is available in the area

Road network: NH-203 is the connecting link as inner roads are yet to be developed

Sewerage: Sewer lines are not available in the area

Street lights: Darkness grips the area as the roads are not lit up

Law & order: Area falls under Lingaraj police

Residentspeak

Neglect of the authorities to develop infrastructure here is going

to become a major problem in future. The authorities should have anticipated the need for developing the locality

Ananta Behera Basuaghai

Officialspeak

In many locations along the NH-203 bypass, building plan is not approved as parts of it are archaeologically protected zones.

If residents go on violating norms, we have to carryout a demolition drive

Debeprasad Dash, BDA enforcement officer

Text by Bibhuti Barik, pictures by Ashwinee Pati