The Times of India 13.08.2012
Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation's expansion plan hits roadblock
BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation's plan of expanding its territory through inclusion of 21 gram panchayats (GP) has not gone down well with people of five gram panchayats.
The villagers said they do not want their villages to be included under BMC thanks to the corporation's poor show in the existing 60 wards.
BMC in its recent council meeting passed the resolution to annex 21 GPs along with two revenue villages to cross the one million-population tag, which, if achieved, can fetch more central aid for different projects.
The five panchayats, raising the banner of revolt, are identified as Barimunda, Kalyanpur, Dadha, Raghunathpur and Kalarahanga under Bhubaneswar North assembly constituency. The GPs consist of a total number of 28 villages with a population of nearly forty thousand. "We do not oppose urbanization. But we do not trust the service of BMC whose poor performance is seen inside the city. Once included under BMC, we will pay more tax towards different facilities, which we are now not getting at very cheaper prices," said zila parishad member Basanti Patra.
"We have written to the housing and urban development department to scrap the proposal," she said. "Our villages are getting ample funds and very good facilities under various rural schemes. It will not benefit us if the villages go under BMC jurisdiction," said Subash Patra, another villager.
Bhubaneswar North MLA Bhagirathi Badajena too threw his support behind the villagers. "I do not see anything wrong in the contention of villagers. Their apprehension is justified as BMC has failed to provide basic amenities to people in many wards in the city. If BMC pledged to provide the best service, then it's okay," Badajena told TOI.
Currently the city has 60 wards consisting of 46 revenue villages with a population of around 8.37 lakh. The BMC area is spread over 135 sqkm, sources said. "Population yardstick of a city plays an important role in getting financial assistance from Centre. If the population here exceeds 10 lakh, the city would be entitled to draw more funds," BMC mayor A N Jena said.
"BMC has been providing better services to citizens and will stick to it in the future," Jena said.
"We want to urbanize the city outskirts that have grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years. We need to regulate the unplanned and chaotic development outside the BMC area," the mayor said.
The city added 1.90 lakh people in past 10 years when the state's population increased from 3.68 crore in 2001 to the current 4.19 crore. The city's population was 6.47 lakh in 2001. The 2011 Census figures recently belied the public perception that Bhubaneswar was having a 10 lakh plus population. Earlier several projections had put it over 12 lakh. But the latest figure came as a setback because Million Plus cities would instill different confidence among investors.
The villagers said they do not want their villages to be included under BMC thanks to the corporation's poor show in the existing 60 wards.
BMC in its recent council meeting passed the resolution to annex 21 GPs along with two revenue villages to cross the one million-population tag, which, if achieved, can fetch more central aid for different projects.
The five panchayats, raising the banner of revolt, are identified as Barimunda, Kalyanpur, Dadha, Raghunathpur and Kalarahanga under Bhubaneswar North assembly constituency. The GPs consist of a total number of 28 villages with a population of nearly forty thousand. "We do not oppose urbanization. But we do not trust the service of BMC whose poor performance is seen inside the city. Once included under BMC, we will pay more tax towards different facilities, which we are now not getting at very cheaper prices," said zila parishad member Basanti Patra.
"We have written to the housing and urban development department to scrap the proposal," she said. "Our villages are getting ample funds and very good facilities under various rural schemes. It will not benefit us if the villages go under BMC jurisdiction," said Subash Patra, another villager.
Bhubaneswar North MLA Bhagirathi Badajena too threw his support behind the villagers. "I do not see anything wrong in the contention of villagers. Their apprehension is justified as BMC has failed to provide basic amenities to people in many wards in the city. If BMC pledged to provide the best service, then it's okay," Badajena told TOI.
Currently the city has 60 wards consisting of 46 revenue villages with a population of around 8.37 lakh. The BMC area is spread over 135 sqkm, sources said. "Population yardstick of a city plays an important role in getting financial assistance from Centre. If the population here exceeds 10 lakh, the city would be entitled to draw more funds," BMC mayor A N Jena said.
"BMC has been providing better services to citizens and will stick to it in the future," Jena said.
"We want to urbanize the city outskirts that have grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years. We need to regulate the unplanned and chaotic development outside the BMC area," the mayor said.
The city added 1.90 lakh people in past 10 years when the state's population increased from 3.68 crore in 2001 to the current 4.19 crore. The city's population was 6.47 lakh in 2001. The 2011 Census figures recently belied the public perception that Bhubaneswar was having a 10 lakh plus population. Earlier several projections had put it over 12 lakh. But the latest figure came as a setback because Million Plus cities would instill different confidence among investors.
