BHUBANESWAR: Senior Congress leader Navajyoti Patnaik has requested Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to upgrade Balasore Municipality to a Corporation for better civic amenities and efficient discharge of administrative duties. While there are at least one or two municipal corporations in different regions of the State, Navajyoti pointed out that North Odisha has been ignored in this aspect. While Sambalpur and Rourkela come under western Odisha, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar fall in the central/coastal region with Berhampur in southern zone.
In a letter to the CM, the Congress leader maintained that the State government has upgraded municipalities to a at different times. “Balasore, one of the oldest municipalities of the State, meets all the criteria laid under the 74th Constitutional Amendment-1992 and Odisha Municipal Act to become a corporation,” he added.