Joda, May 27: An old-age home built in 2010-11 at a cost of Rs 77 lakh at Bachuhati here has fallen into ruins and now resembles a haunted house, thanks to the building remaining in disuse over the years.
A Tata Group company funded Rs 50 lakh while Mala Ray mine contributed Rs 27 lakh for the building in an area of one acre and 28 decimal. Sadly, five years have passed since its completion, but the authorities have not made it usable. The two-storied building has started crumbling while its doors and windows have been stolen.
The thieves have not even spared the bricks. What is even more saddening is that gamblers have made the building their den while it has become a safe haven for anti-socials.
Executive officer of Joda municipality Prashant Kumar Sahu said the companies had handed over the building of the old-age home to the civic body years ago, but the councillors have never taken up the issue of its use at the council meeting. “None has paid heed to its use and deplorable condition,” he added.
On the other hand, deputy chairperson of the civic body Surendranath Jena squarely blamed it on the civic body chairperson and the executive officer. “The chairperson and the executive officer are keen to do nothing about the old-age home. If nothing is done to the valuable infrastructure it will take no time to crumble to ruins,” Jena said.
Councillor Swarnalata Patnaik also held the chairperson and executive officer responsible for the state of affairs even as a number of helpless and abandoned senior citizens are leading miserable lives on the streets across Keonjhar.
Maheswar Poddar, president of Joda Nagarika Manch, and Niranjan Bohidar, president of Joda Bikash Manch, urged the civic body to take immediate steps for renovation of the old-age home for the welfare of thousands of homeless and abandoned people. Former chairperson of civic body Purusottam Das suggested that the building should be handed over to an NGO or technical institution.
Locals urged the district collector to take right steps in this direction. PNN
