Demanding action against the officials responsible for damages of Mo Cycle bicycles and disposing them off to scrap dealers by the BMC and Bhubaneswar Smart City Ltd, the BJP Bhubaneswar District Committee staged a demonstration here on Monday.
Partly leaders alleged that eyeing the Men’s Hockey World Cup in 2018 for short distance cover, the authorities had bought at least 2,000 bicycles for Rs 5 crore and spent additional Rs 1 crore for their preservation; but finally due to the shortsightedness of officials, the cycles were left unused and sold as scrap for Rs 500 each against the actual cost of Rs 25,000. The cycles have been sold at Rs 40 per kg of metal. BJP district president Babu Singh said this is daylight robbery of the Central fund meant for Smart City development. He demanded action against officials and recovery of entire cost from them. Earlier in the day, party workers took out a ‘funeral procession’ of cycles to protest against the corruption.