Though belated, in a significant step forward, the Housing and Urban Development Department finally issued a notification on October 28 for the inclusion of Lochapada panchayat along with three villages of three different panchayats into the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) fold.
In the notification, the department stated that the State Government intends to include Lochapada village under the same panchayat, Sanakusasthali of Badakusasthali panchayat, Brhamanpalli under Ganju panchayat and Golabandha Army Training College under the same panchayat within the BeMC limits.
The people to be affected by the inclusion can file their objections and suggestions with the department or through the Ganjam district Collector within 30 days of the publication of the notification of the Odisha Gazette. The Government would consider the submissions within the stipulated period.
It would not be out of place to mention here that the Government had issued a Gazette notification for the inclusion of 18 panchayats under the BeMC in 2008. But no further step was taken on the notification. Later the aforesaid four villages passed a resolution in their respective panchayats showing their desire for inclusion in the BeMC but there was no progress in this regard on the part of the Government despite the continuous demand and agitation by the Sahar Tali Anchalika Milita Kriya Anusthan Committee (STAMKAC).
As a decisive measure in December 2021, a case was filed by the STAMKAC in the Orissa High Court seeking its intervention and direction in this respect. After hearing the case on January 11 this year, the HC directed the Housing and Urban Development Department to include the villages within three months.
Again as the Government failed on its part to take any action on the High Court, the STAMKAC filed a defamation suit in the court on August 24 and the HC on September 26 directed the Director Municipal Administration to take necessary steps within a month.