Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, April 4: Huge advertisement billboards installed at the upscale Unit II central market is spoiling the beauty of the place where aesthetic structures depicting Khandagiri and Udayagiri and Lingaraj temple had been put up.
City urban planners have expressed resentment over the lack of regulation that has led to the mushrooming of such billboards that have covered the aesthetic structures.
The beautiful structures are not visible because of hoarding clusters and granite structures that have exposed the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and General Administration Department’s (GAD) callousness in keeping the market clean, according to experts. Vehicles parked inside the market and a fountain are also encroaching upon the footpath.
The market has two towers — Eastern and Western — that are now not visible because of the encroachment by hawkers and advertisement billboards clusters in Unit II.
The central market was established in 1965 and has around 4,000-5,000 shoppers every day. The number goes up to 15,000-20,000 during festive seasons.
“The city planned by Otto H Koenigsberger in 1948 based on the grid system is still recognised globally as a model city with regard to planning. The government should consider preserving the aesthetic aspects and originality of Koenigsberger’s thought as the city is similar to New Delhi’s preserved Lutyen’s zone,” urban management planner Piyush Ranjan Rout said.
Central market association secretary Prayumna Jena was not available for comment.
”It is the onus of BMC and GA department to remove hoardings and ensure a clutter-free market to woo shoppers,” a market union member said.
“The market was once one of the beautiful structures in the city. It is now spoilt with hawkers thriving and permanent traders putting up huge billboards that hamper visibility,” said Pranati Singha, a shopper.