BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to improve sanitation and ensure maintenance of daily haats and market complexes in the city, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to hand over the upkeep of toilet facilities at these places to a private agency.
BMC sources said the civic body will first undertake immediate repairs of damaged toilets, boundary walls and entry and exit gates at various haats and market complexes. The repair work will be carried out through the respective executive engineers after which the facilities will be handed over to an agency for their upkeep.
The civic body has nearly two dozen haats and market complexes, including Siripur haat, Unit-I, Unit-IV, Saheed Nagar haat, Lingaraj market complex, Maa Kochilei haat and Unit-III market apart from around 20 other vending zones. However, poor upkeep of the urinals and toilet facilities at these places have remained a major cause of public inconvenience.
BMC sources said urinals and toilet facilities in multiple haats and markets have fallen into disrepair, affecting sanitation and the overall management of the markets.
After the repair work is completed, a designated private agency will be entrusted with the regular maintenance of the toilets. A proposal to this effect has been approved by the civic body a few weeks back, BMC sources said.
Crackdown on shops failing to pay licence fee
The BMC has also decided to crack down on shopkeepers whose allotted shops at its haats and markets have remained closed for a long period and who have failed to pay rent or licence fees regularly.
The zonal deputy commissioners concerned will issue notices to such allottees. If they fail to clear the outstanding dues and reopen the shops as required under the rules, their allotment orders will be cancelled, BMC said. The vacant shops will subsequently be offered to eligible shopkeepers through e-auction to ensure transparency and competition. The move will prevent revenue loss to BMC and ensure better utilisation and management of the commercial spaces in the markets, officials said.