Joda Municipality has many problems like health, sanitation, water and light etc, but lack of coordination between the civic body Chairman and the Executive Officer has put a spoke in the developmental work.

Notably, Chairperson Manjula Patra, an in-law of Joda BJD leader Sanjay Patra, was elected with the backing of the ruling party in which Sanjaya had a great role. But after the Chairman elections were over, disturbance started in the family of Majula which later turned out to be a talk in Joda town.

The situation went so bad that she had to snap all relations with Sanjay and her husband who is the younger brother of Sanjaya and two of her kids. At that time of her crisis, Samresh Mohanty, the Executive Officer, had come to her rescue. But the situation has changed now. A youth who claims to be a close confidant of Manjula is interfering in the day to day administration of the municipality which has impeded the developmental work, alleged none other than EO Mohanty himself.

On the other hand, the youth complains that the EO tries to keep the Chairman under his clutch and wants her to do illegal work.

In a recent development, a group of councilors lodged a complaint with the Collector that the EO was doing everything unilaterally in a project concerning an eco garden in Sargidalia under ward no -12. It involves a cost of Rs 4 crores but the EO had floated no tender and had engaged a contractor of his own choice violating the Municipality Act, they said.

The councillors were also divided on the issue with a section supporting the Chairman and another, the EO.