In a bid to soften the agitation over the demand for a permanent
bench of the High Court in Western Odisha districts, the State
Government on Tuesday decided to accord corporation status to Sambalpur
municipality.

The decision was taken at a high level meeting
chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. The major city of Western
Odisha would become the fourth municipal corporation of the State after
Bhubnaeswar, Cuttack and Berhampur. Finance Minister Prasanna Kumar
Acharya, who was present at the meeting, said  the Chief Minister has
directed the officials of the Urban Development department to expedite
the process. This was a long-standing demand of the people of Sambalpur,
he said.

However, there were mixed reactions from the political
parties. While the BJP welcomed the decision, the Congress described it
as a move to placate the people of Sambalpur ahead of the urban local
body (ULB) polls likely to be held there in December.

The
corporation will include Burla and Hirakud notified area councils
(NACs), along with 12 gram panchayats located on the outskirts of
Sambalpur. At  least seven gram panchayats of Dhanakauda and five of
Maneswar block would come under the corporation with a population of
over 3.35 lakh. The process for converting Sambalpur municipality to a
corporation will be started in October.

 BJP MLA from Sambalpur
Jaynarayan Mishra welcomed the decision. But he demanded that the city
be included under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
(JNNURM). The decision is welcome, but will not be of much help unless
the city is included under the JNNURM.

Leader of Opposition
Bhupinder Singh criticised the State Government for playing vote bank
politics. The Government should stop playing tricks on the people of
Sambalpur, he said.