CUTTACK: Over six years have passed since the foundation stone for expansion of Biju Bhawan, the office of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) was laid. However, owing to apathy of the civic body, the project remains a non-starter.
The expansion project was initiated with the objective of decongesting CMC’s existing office which is struggling with space crunch.
The proposal for the project was passed unanimously in the civic body’s council meeting in 2015. In order to meet the fire safety norms, it was also proposed to construct alternate entry and exit points in the building.
This apart, it was planned to construct rooms for shops near the building which would have helped the civic body augment its revenue. The foundation stone for the project was laid on August 31, 2015.
CMC Commissioner Ananya Das said there is no need to expand the existing building as a municipal services pavilion has been constructed near Chandan Pokhari from where various services like planning, Aadhaar, trade license, holding tax and others are being provided.