Bhubaneswar, July 22: Nayapalli residents are not ready to sacrifice facility for a new office of the municipal corporation.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) had proposed to demolish the kalyan mandap at Unit-VIII to build a multi-storeyed structure to relocate its main office. However, the plan has run into rough weather with residents up in arms against the corporation's proposed move.
The residents of the area have submitted a memorandum to chief secretary Gokul Chandra Pati on June 1 urging him to find another site for relocating the corporation's office as the kalyan mandap served the needs of the people residing in the area.
This is not the first occasion when the corporation's plan to construct a multi-storeyed building to relocate its main office had faced a roadblock.
A plan to construct a multi-storeyed building on the premises of the existing BMC office could not materialise in 2010 because of objections from the Bhubaneswar Development Authority as the area falls in the 'restricted zone'.
Later, the corporation tried to get government land at Bachelors' Barrack at Unit VIII and Madhusudan Nagar at Unit IV in 2012 and 2014, respectively. However, its endeavour did not yield results. While the former plot went to another government department, the latter was claimed by the accountant-general's office as theirs.
On April 10, while inaugurating the corporation's new branch office on the premises of the BMC-Bhawani Mall, mayor Ananta Narayan Jena declared that after June, no bookings would be allowed at the Unit VIII (Nayapalli) kalyan mandap as the civic body would construct a 1.5 lakh sqft multi-storeyed structure at a cost of Rs 100 crore. While in the first phase, a four-storeyed structure would be built for Rs 40 crore, the extension would follow.
Ajay Majhi, 46, a resident of Nayapalli said: "The kalyan mandap is used by people from five wards in the vicinity and also helps many citizens from other parts of the city as it is centrally located. It also remains booked round the year and the civic body should not demolish it for a new office building."
Retired revenue department employee Yudhisthir Chhotaray, 67, said: "The corporation is at present operating from an ideal location and the new office building should be constructed there. The vacated land of Bachelors' Barrack could also be considered for this purpose."
Speaking to The Telegraph, Jena said: "We are yet to receive the official copy of the government letter in which the municipal commissioner and vice-chancellor have been asked to examine the matter and take action.''
However, the state government is yet to accord administrative approval for the new office building of the corporation.
A senior official told The Telegraph: "In the wake of the controversy leading to use of land for the purpose for which the original allotment was made, the general administration department has asked the civic body to furnish an application to change the land type of the Unit VIII kalyan mandap from community utility to office building purpose.''
