Sambalpur, May 24: Shopkeepers in Hirakud today gheraoed the municipal commissioner demanding rollback of rent hike, which has gone up by 10 times.

Some shops came up in 1952 when the dam was built. The town was declared a notified area council in 1964. Later, the council built a few shops and started collecting rent from 190 of them. In 2014, the council became a part of the Sambalpur Municipal Corporation. Now, the civic body has increased the rent by 10 times, said Bharat Ballav Satpathy, a shopkeeper. He said the shops, which were paying Rs 500 per month, have been asked to pay Rs 5,000. "We had earlier approached the authorities to repair the shops, but they didn't take any step. The shopkeepers had to renovate the shops on their own. Now, the corporation has increased the rent," said Satpathy.

"The population of Hirakud is around 30,000 and the town has a very small market. Several small businessmen have been earning their living by doing business here for the past 50 years. It is not possible for these small traders to pay such a big amount as rent," said an agitator, Sachikanta Mishra.

"The municipal corporation has fixed the rent without consulting the shopkeepers. Some of the traders, who earlier used to pay Rs 150 per month, will have to cough up Rs 1,000 per month," said another agitator, Simanchal Patra.

"The new rates came into force in April and we received the letter regarding the increased rent on May 18," he said.

Municipal commissioner Bimalendu Rai said: "The civic body has adopted a proposal to charge monthly rent of Rs 10 per sqft in Hirakud and Rs 15 per sqft in Sambalpur. The shopkeepers are opposing the decision. They have also submitted a memorandum in this regard. We will discuss their demand."

Beaten to death

An unidentified youth, who had entered inside the house of a villager in Jalda, 10 kilometres from Rourkela town, in an inebriated condition on yesterday night, was today tied to a tree and beaten to death by the villagers. Police suspect that the deceased youth was a helper of a truck who had strayed into the village after getting drunk. Two persons, including the house owner, have been detained and are being questioned. Others involved in the attack on the youth have reportedly fled from the village.