Bhubaneswar, Aug. 29: That tall promises fall flat has almost become the signature of many of the municipal corporation projects.

In might be a busy day for the civic body officials, including mayor Ananta Narayan Jena, who had inaugurated and laid foundation stones for a host of projects from 9am to 5pm, local residents were not sitting idle either. While the authorities opened 15 public toilets and made promises of developing 10 parks in the city on the occasion of the first day of Local Self-government Day today, a Mancheswar resident was looking for water connection in one of the newly opened toilets.

At Mancheswar, the civic body today opened a five-seater hybrid toilet, which, according to the local residents, is not ready to use.

Mancheswar resident Mahesh Panigrahy said: "The civic body has just completed the work on the structure, but forgot to ensure water and electricity connection to the facility. How will one use this toilet without water?"

On this, Jena said the executor of the toilet had been asked to complete the work before the inauguration today, but they informed that there were some problems in getting the permanent electricity and water connections from respective government agencies. "As of now, we have placed water tankers and got a temporary electricity connection for the toilet. The project executor has assured us of resolving the issue within two days," said Jena.

Nevertheless, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation today appeared busy in basking in the glory of number game as to how it has added 15 more public toilets to the 65 already existing to "serve the purpose of both public and communities". The facilities were thrown opened in 10 municipal wards. The new toilets have 70 seats altogether and are executed under two schemes - Project Samman and Ama Souchalaya or hybrid toilet.

"We have been constructing the toilets under the two schemes for the past one year and are successful in completing the work on most of the toilets. We will open eight more toilets in the next two days. Both slum dwellers and the public will take benefits from the facilities," said Jena.

However, local people, the Mancheswar residents being the most prominent ones among them, refused to buy the mayor's assurance. They alleged that the civic officials had done the job in hurry and opened the facilities without ensuring its final and proper completion.

The authority's "promise" of developing 10 parks in the city also appeared to be an eyewash for many residents. It has drawn flak for the delay in execution of the park projects, while at the same time, making promises for more such facilities. "These people only make promises, while the work at the ground level is almost nil. Last year also, they had laid foundation stones for many such parks, but I wonder where those are," said Sailashree Vihar resident Naresh Ojha.

Except parks and toilets, the civic body officials today also inaugurated a vending zone at Pandara.

The plan is to open another such facility at Gadakana tomorrow. The Pandara one will accommodate about 15 vendors and start functioning once the vendors get hold of their respective units.