Other States - Orissa   

Capital city Bhubaneswar turns 60

— Photo: Lingaraj Panda

SPECIAL DAY: Schoolchildren marching past the dais as Law and Industry Minister Biswabhusan Harichandan receive the salute on the Capital Foundation Day celebration in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.

BHUBANESWAR: When capital city Bhubaneswar turned 60 on Sunday there was high optimism among policy makers who visualise it the next Bangalore in making but dreams of middle class of having a permanent shelter here seemed to be fast fading away.

Thanks to the steep rise of property values in the capital city, people belonging to middle class have been increasingly pushed to semi-urban centres surrounded by the city.

Let alone a piece of land with small dream house, owning a flat has become nearly impossible for them.A two-bed room apartment within eight km radius of railway station would start from a price tag of Rs. 30 lakh.

Anybody aspires to have a flat in posh Sahid Nagar, Forest Park or at any place within 5 km of the State Secretariat needs to ensure that he has minimum Rs. 50 lakh in his kitty.

Shortage of land in city has posed a severe challenge to policy makers with lands fast disappearing into hands of big construction companies or business houses.

The situation has come to such a pass that, Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) has initiated acquiring and purchasing private land for future projects on health, education andresearch.Though wide roads and beatified sidewalls are increasingly being identified with the development of the city, people living little distance away from main roads are tired of filing complaints with civic body.

Never had the city witnessed water logging like during last year. All the natural drains have been choked under pressure of urbanisation while no well-connected drainage system has been put in place. Jagannath Mohapatra, former chief of civic body and an early settler in the city, blamed the present situation to the multiple administrations.

“The capital was planned for 40,000 to 1 lakh people. But nobody has imagined that it would grow exponentially. Those who ruled never cared to involve community and other stakeholders,” Mr. Mohapatra said.But not everything has gone wrong for the city. Bhubaneswar is slowly emerging as a hub of educational institutions.

As per the estimation 15,000 students from other states come to this temple city for higher education. It is turning out to be another major centre for IT industries.

Since law and order situation is not as bad as capitals of other states, those come to city through their employment never easily wish to leave the place.

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