Sambalpur, July 25: A suitable wedding venue is still a dream for the residents of the Burla notified area council. Though the civic body had a proposal to build a kalyan mandap in town, the proposal is yet to materialise.

“The town has expanded now. The population has also increased remarkably. But the civic body has failed to provide a venue for marriages in the town. It is their responsibility to provide a place for marriages and other social functions in the town at affordable prices,” said local resident Dhananjaya Satpathy.

“Because of the lack of a kalyan mandap, the people here have to depend on tent houses to arrange marriages, which is very costly. If the civic body takes steps to build a kalyan mandap, the people will get a proper marriage venue at a reasonable price,” he said.

“People also depend on the private marriage venues, which is also quite expensive. If the civic body takes initiative to build a kalyan mandap in the town, the residents will be happy,” said another local resident Buwan Biswal.

“Burla is an important place. Veer Surendra Sai medical college, Veer Surendra Sai University of technology and many other important offices are located here. But it is unfortunate that the town does not have kalyan mandap. Because of the lack of the venue, the people here find it difficult to arrange the wedding and other functions. The civic body had plans for the wedding venue. It should take the initiative to materialise the proposal,” said Litu Patra, a resident of the town.

Executive officer of the Bural Notified Area Council (NAC), Rajesh Tamang, said: “The civic body had taken a decision to build a kalyan mandap in the town in 2009. The plan and budget for the proposal was also prepared. The estimated budget for the project was Rs 2 crore.”

“A plot has also been identified for the mandap. However, the proposal is yet to materialise. The land which was identified for the kalyan mandap belongs to the water resources department. We will write to the department for the land and start building the mandap after the land is transferred to the NAC,” said Tamang.

Tamnag said: “Apart from a kalyan mandap, the NAC has also proposed to build a jatri niwas there.”