Poor condition of the road in front of the dharmasala at Old Town in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, July 30: Old Town area has earned Bhubaneswar the tag of temple city with over 100 historic temples, including the Lingaraj temple. But, civic facilities in Old Town area of Bhubaneswar are far below the desired level.

The road in front of one of the city’s oldest dharmasala in Old Town is full of potholes. The municipal hospital in Old Town is running without a radiologist, blood bank official, and ENT specialist.

“The construction of the road connecting Bindusagar with the Lingaraj temple remains incomplete. Tourists staying in the Doodhwala dharmasala face great difficulties as the stretch of the road till the temple is full of potholes and garbage dumps. The other entry point to the temple on the Ganga Yamuna Road, where tourist buses are parked, was virtually a garbage dumping site,” said Lingaraj Sahu, president of Ekamra Yuva Mancha.

“The vendors all encroach the road giving tourists a difficult time,” he added.

Another resident pointed out that the local hospital, managed by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, is running without proper facilities and staff. “The old building of the hospital, which was supposed to be rebuilt and connected to the main hospital through a foot over-bridge, is yet to be completed,” he said.

“Posts of a radiologist, blood bank officer and an ENT specialist are remaining vacant, and we are trying to get suitable replacements. Recently an anaesthesiologist was recruited on contract basis,” said B. Das Mohapatra, chief medical officer of the hospital.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said that there is a plan to revive the old medical ward. But, he refused to give the project any time-frame.

Akshaya Kumar Rath, a businessman, said that the tank constructed by the public health department near the playground area of the Old Town is yet to be functional.

The construction of a line from Naraj reservoir also has remained incomplete. “Pipelines have not been laid though the tank has been built eight years ago,” he said.

Contacted, a senior PHD officials said ``there is a budget provisionfor the line and it will be completed this year�

The Old Town area has three councilors. One of the councilors Diptimayee Samartha of Ward No. 55said, ``the market area is not under BMC. It belongs to the LingarajTemple Trust.� He said that BMC was building a Market complex and it should be ready by the end of August.

``There is also a plan to revive the old ward of the Municipality Hospital. The BMC is allocating funds for the purpose.�� he said.

EOM� �¦¦ ·¦¦ ·�T. �