Berhampur: Ahead of the urban polls and amid protests by the people of three panchayats and some other villages on the outskirts of Silk city demanding merger of their areas with Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC), the civic body has assured that their demand will be fulfilled soon. The locals have been fighting for the cause for years. They have said that as their areas are out of the purview of the civic body, they have been deprived of the benefits of government’s developmental initiatives and basic amenities.
People of the three panchayats and some other villages on Berhampur outskirts have formed United Action Committee (UAC) and submitted a memorandum to the Odisha government through the BeMC commissioner. These people have been staging agitation for the last 13 years, demanding inclusion of 18 peripheral panchayats in the BeMc area. They have citied an order of the High Court in this regard.
The UAC had earlier moved a petition in the Orissa High Court seeking its direction for inclusion of some of the suburb areas of the city under BeMC.
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Hearing the case, the HC had issued a directive to the administrator of the BeMC and the Housing and Urban Development department February 11 for inclusion of some peripheral villages. A delegation of the UAC has held discussions with the commissioner regarding their long-standing demand and the HC order thereof.
During the talks, BeMC commissioner Sidheswar Baliram Bondar said that the state government is aware of the High Court order on the issue.
“The Ganjam district collector and the Urban Development director have discussed the issue. There is positive response at the government level about execution of the HC order,” Bondar informed.
The commissioner said apart from the proposed panchayats, two more panchayats have to be included in the BeMC area. He assured that the process of inclusion will start soon.
