BALANGIR: The town hall in Balangir, managed by Balangir Municipality, has been lying in a dilapidated state for the last few years. Locals alleged that requests made to the civic body to renovate the building have only fallen on deaf ears. The hall, at present, has no water and electricity supply and the lavatory has been turned into a store room. Only few broken chairs find space in the hall.
Locals have been making representations to the civic body to take steps to renovate the community hall, as they cannot afford to hold functions at private halls. Earlier, the hall was known for hosting several State and district level cultural functions and drama festivals. Now it have become a safe haven for anti-socials.
Dharmendra Nanda, a local artiste, the dilapidated building is even unsafe to use. While there is no basic facilities in the hall to conduct any cultural programmes, the civic body continues to collect users fee of Rs 5,000 from artistes who book it to hold shows.
Executive Officer of Balangir Municipality, Basudev Satpathy said steps are being taken to revive the town hall and a tender has been floated for its renovation at an estimated cost of `20 lakh.