Demand to carve out a new district out of Mayurbhanj, of late, is gaining momentum here. The two sub-divisions of Bamanghaty and Panchpeerh, out of a total of four of Mayurbhanj, should go into forming the proposed district, with its headquarters at Rairangpur, the people of these areas say.
The demand, although a little suppressed, has been there for long. But, in recent days, leading people of those areas have once again raised their voice in support of the demand. By doing so, they are giving expression to the pent-up feelings of the people, these socio-political leaders claim.
From the point of view of area and population, Mayurbhanj, presently, is one of the largest districts of Odisha, and, thus, too unwieldy to be smoothly administered from the present district headquarters town of Baripada, they argue.
Supporters say if today’s Mayurbhanj is divided into two districts, with Baripada and Kaptipada sub-divisions being named as Mayurbhanj(east) and Bamanghaty and Panchpeerh sub-divisions forming the new district of Mayurbhanj(west), with their new district headquarters towns at Baripada and Rairangpur respectively, it will go a long way in solving the problem of administration and governance. The pace of development, in that case, is also likely to be faster.
Recently, a series of meetings, in support of the demand to create a new district, were held at Rairangpur by a number of socio-cultural organizations, including the “Bamanghay Vikash Parishad”. There was near unanimity on the issue. Once the new, smaller districts come into being, the issues related to health, education, industry, mines, law and order, transport, irrigation etc can be better addressed, the participants in the meetings opined.
Presently, Mayurbhanj, it may be pointed out, is though a single revenue district, it is practically being treated as two districts in ways more than one, both officially and unofficially. While the proposed new district of Mayurbhanj(west) is known as “Ghaty upara” in rural parlance, Mayurbhanj(east) is described as “Ghaty tala”. This is so, because the Bangriposi Ghat divides the two and Ghaty upara consists of comparatively higher lands whereas the Ghaty tala areas are a little low-lying. Secondly, for quite some time now, many a social and political outfits have already been functioning in Mayurbhanj with two district units, with their headquarters both at Baripada and Rairangpur. Thirdly, quite a few Government departments like Posts and Telegraphs, Forests, Electricity, PWD etc already have their district level offices at Rairangpur, apart from Baripada.
Under these circumstances, if the new district demand further gains ground in the days to come, the Government will be forced to come out with an appropriate response, observers here feel.