The collection of money by the Paradeep Municipality for cleaning roads and maintaining hygiene has spread resentment among the residents of the port city.
The civic body officials were collecting Rs 100 per house in slums and colonies for the cleaning work but of late this has been increased to Rs 250 at the time of Covid-19.This was protested by the Purba Upakula Progressive Women Trust. The convener of the trust, advocate Debabrata Sahoo said in a statement that such collection of money is an illegal act and a memorandum was submitted in this regard to the municipality authorities.
The PPT is doing all constructions, maintenance of the roads, drainage in the port township but the Paradip Municipality is collecting money from the residents in the name of maintaining cleanliness when the roads, drains, slums are left with garbage. Mosquitoes and snakes are a regular menace in the port town.Sahoo warned that people may take to streets against the hike in collection of money from the residents.
Notably, the Paradeep Municipality is considered as one of the richest civic bodies in terms of generating funds. Initially, the Paradip Port Trust (PPT) was paying Rs 5 lakh to the Municipality which was increased to Rs 8 lakh and now Rs 20 lakh after Municipality took the responsibility of maintaining cleanliness of Kapil creek. However, creek is left as unclean as ever.