Berhampur Municipal Corporation boundary to be redrawn with the merger of 46 villages

Efforts are under way for merger of around 46 villages on the periphery of the city into the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) area.

Berhampur, the oldest municipality of the state was elevated to a Municipal Corporation on Dec 31, 2008. As per the gazette notification made for the purpose the boundary of the new Municipal Corporation, it was to include 26 villages of 14 panchayats on its periphery. Even after four years the boundary of the BMC has not been redrawn. According to BMC authorities, as per the recent plans the number of villages proposed to be included in the BMC has been increased to 46. They are from panchayats adjoining the BMC area. When Cuttack and Bhubaneswar urban bodies were elevated to Municipal Corporations, more than 60 panchayats were merged with these urban bodies. But in case of Berhampur similar action has been delayed.

The Berhampur Sub-Collector convened a meeting to discuss the process to be initiated. As per BMC officials the villages to be included are the ones through which the proposed ring road for the city would pass. With the inclusion of these new villages the population of the city would exceed seven lakh and it would provide scope for planned development of the city. Source: The Hindu