CUTTACK: After the district administration drew flak for alleged irregularities in the conduct of Baliyatra, the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) is now being targeted by corporators over the issue. Congress corporator Santosh Bhola alleged the civic body, which is believed to have spent Rs 9 crore on the fair, is yet to provide the details of expenditure to the corporators. Even the members of CMC’s sub-committees concerned are in the dark over income and expenditure.
“The CMC authorities have said Rs 1,10,000 was spent on bulldozers, hydraulic tippers and excavators for sand filling at Baliyatra ground. But we suspect foul play as the civic body had engaged its own machinery for the purpose. Similarly, a sum of Rs 21 lakh was spent on road dust suppression which is unbelievable. The civic body is showing excess expenditure,” alleged Bhola while demanding not only an inquiry but also a special audit into the income and expenditure on the festival.
Similarly, BJP corporator Gagan Ojha alleged the civic body incurred unnecessary expenditure on the event. “Around Rs 1 crore is stated to have been spent on the laser light show at the fair. We cannot understand how the show benefited people,” he asked.
The CMC had engaged a private agency for cleaning the Baliytra ground at a cost of Rs 1.73 lakh per day. When asked whether CMC vehicles were used by the agency for transporting garbage from the ground, an official, who admitted the practice was wrong, said steps would be taken to deduct the cost of transportation from the agency’s fees, alleged Ojha who is also a member of the civic body’s health and sanitation sub-committee.
He said it is a matter of pride for Cuttack that the famous Baliyatra found a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. But the people of the city should know the details of expenditure incurred towards creating the record, said the corporator.
Not only corporators of opposition parties, but some from the ruling party too are dissatisfied alleging they were kept in dark over expenditure incurred on the festival. “I do not find any reason why the civic body is not coming up with details of income and expenditure and a balance sheet for maintaining transparency,” said a ruling party corporator on condition of anonymity. Efforts to elicit response from CMC commissioner Nikhil Pavan Kalyan proved futile.