Crackdown on illegal billboards in Berhampur

Authorities of the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BMC) with support of the administration and police started demolition hoardings and billboards put up illegally all around the city.

The commissioner of the BMC, Ajit Mishra said this demotion drive against the illegally put up billboards would continue till all of them were removed. On Friday, this demolition drive continued in the presence of police in areas like old bus stand, Girija square and SNT Road. It may be noted that the BMC was not getting any revenue from these billboards and hoardings although the advertising agency behind it was making profits. An advertising agency had put up these hoardings without paying proper licence fee to the BMC. And it was continuing since more than a decade leading to large scale loss for the urban body. The BMC authorities also directed owners of all private buldings who had allowed billboards for advertising on their roof tops to get required license from the BMC after paying license fee otherwise they would also be removed.

The erring advertising agency had been given time by the BMC authorities to deposit the licence fee by 5 p.m. on April 24 which it did not do. According to the mayor of BMC, K.Madhavi the total outstanding amount which the defaulter advertising agency had to pay to the BMC was worth Rs. 1,18,58,131.

“An advertisement agency named ‘Adworld’ had taken up the tender for putting billboards in and around the city in 2001. But for some reason neither was its rate revised nor was it pressed to pay up its dues till 2012” , said Mr Mishra.

In 2013, the BMC decided to have new tender for advertisements through billboards in the city. The owner of the ‘Adworld’ which had been blacklisted by the municipal corporation applied in the name of another firm named ‘Excellent Advertisement Agency’ and grabbed the contract by becoming the highest bidder. This new firm had to deposit licence fee worth Rs. 60 lakh which it never did but put up its billboards all around the city.

When the BMC authorities objected and tried to remove the billboards in 2013, the owner of the advertising firm approached the Odisha High Court to stop the process. In March this year, Odisha High Court dismissed his case. Source: The Hindu

Famous Gopalpur-on-Sea Lighthouse (Berhampur)

POST ELECTIONS, POWER CUTS AGAIN HIT SILK CITY BERHAMPUR

The denizens of this Silk City, who are reeling under hot summer, are now facing post-election punishment through regular and frequent power cuts.Hardly a week after the completion of the State’s first-phase polls in Ganjam district, the Southco seems to have deliberately resorted to frequent and unscheduled power cuts in the district, more particularly in Brahmapur city, leaving its consumers to suffer.

It may be mentioned here that the Brahmapur residents remained without power for more than a month after the twin natural disasters of Phailin and incessant rains. The Southco took nearly four months to restore normalcy in power supply and the consumers are yet to forget their sleepless nights.

Because of the elections, the Southco did not resort to power cuts so frequently as it is doing now as its old practice, observed a senior citizen. The consumers are now experiencing power cuts more than five times a day ranging between five minutes to an hour, particularly during the period when the temperature has reached 40 degree Celsius.

Frequent power cuts coupled with low voltage in the city has put the citizens in great distress and trauma. Supply of power has been vested with the Southco not only for Brahmapur but also its adjoining areas like Kanisi, Gopalpur and Kukudakhandi. There are currently 1.30 lakh consumers.

Moreover, consumption of electricity increases manifold during summer. Even at 9 in the night, no AC or air cooler is working. While the total consumption of energy in the city is 30 MW in other seasons, it has increased to 50 MW during this hot summer,sources said.

When some of the consumers wanted to know the reason of such frequent power cuts, a senior officer of the Southco said that repair works of some transformers and sub-stations were kept suspended during the election period and have now been undertaken, as a result of which the Southco may again resort to power cuts for two hours, ie from 4 pm to 6 pm every day, if required. Source: The Pioneer

Gopalpur-on-Sea Beach to Berhampur Road @ night

Adi Shakti Maa Tara Tarini (Breast Shrine of Shakti & Istha Devi of Odisha)

Source: The Sambad 

Meru Sankranti & Hanuman Jayanti celebration in Berhampur

Is this the world's biggest election loser?

By Sandeep Sahu

Berhampur, Odisha

He has stood in every Indian parliamentary election since 1962 - and lost every one - but that has not deterred 78-year-old Shyam Babu Subudhi from throwing his hat into the ring once again. Dr Subudhi is a homeopathy practitioner in Berhampur, a town in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. And he is contesting two constituencies, Berhampur and Aska, in India's forthcoming parliamentary polls.

Despite losing his deposit in every previous election, having won less than a sixth of the votes cast each time, Dr Subudhi is surprisingly confident he can win both seats this time. His one-page election manifesto even claims that there is "enough of a possibility" of him being appointed prime minister of India after the coming elections.

This will be his 13th attempt in a row to enter India's parliament. I am in electoral politics because I want to end corruption in the country” "People are fed up with the current crop of leaders, who switch parties when they are not given a ticket by their own party. They have seen that I am the only person who has steadfastly refused to join any political party since the 1960s," Dr Subudhi told the BBC at his home in Berhampur.

Dr Subudhi's electoral debut came in 1957, when he battled former State Minister Brundaban Nayak over the setting up of a school in Berhampur. "I fought with him in the Hinjili Assembly constituency and lost narrowly," he says proudly.

What started as a battle over a school soon turned into an obsession for this man, a familiar sight on the streets of Berhampur in his trademark cap, uneven beard, bulging black bag and well-worn suit, even in the scorching summer heat.

He fought in both assembly and parliamentary elections until 1980, when he took on former Chief Minister JB Patnaik in Begunia. From then on, he has focused his efforts purely on parliamentary elections.  Dr Subudhi remembers his "fight" against former Prime Minister Rao (right) as a high point of his career.

The high point of his long electoral career came in 1996 when he "fought" the Prime Minister of India, PV Narasimha Rao, for the Berhampur seat. Biju Patnaik, father of India's current chief minister and the biggest political leader in the state's post-independence history, is among his other notable "rivals".

"I am in electoral politics because I want to end corruption in the country," Dr Subudhi says. But how can he end corruption, even if he wins the election, when he is only an independent candidate? "I am sure I will get the support of many others in parliament," he says confidently.

Curiously for someone who is 78 and on the ballot in two constituencies, his manifesto promises to bar people above 60 from contesting elections, and put an end to the practice of standing in more than one seat.

His campaign style is also frugal and lacks the pomp and ostentation usually associated with Indian elections. He moves about mostly on foot, by bicycle or even bull-drawn cart, as he meets his electorate in ones and twos.

But Dr Subudhi readily concedes that despite his no-frills campaign style, he could end up spending about 500,000 Indian rupees ($8,300; £5,000) this time. But he laughs away any suggestion his family members might be peeved with him for "wasting" the money.

Indian workers make different party campaign flags at a workshop in Hyderabad on 7 March 2014

They do not appear too perturbed. "He spends his own money and never asks for help from anybody," says his daughter-in-law Rashmita. His earnings apparently come from his still-flourishing homeopathy practice, while his sizeable ancestral property ensures that he is never short of money to fight elections.

Many people in the town think he is mad. Others think he is an old man obsessed with getting into the Guinness Book of Records as the man who has contested the most elections.

But there are some - like his contemporary and good friend Venkat Bihari Praharaj - who do take him seriously. They believe he is standing sincerely and is not in the fight for fun. "But the problem is people tend to vote for parties rather than individuals," Praharaj says. There is nothing to suggest that the voters will behave any differently this time. But Dr K Shyam Babu Subudhi will have none of it.

Chaitra Yatra Third Tuesday at Maa Taratarini hill shrine, Odisha

Perennial drinking water crisis in Berhampur city

Residents of Ashok Nagar threaten poll boycott

The perennial drinking water crisis in Berhampur which continues to be an election issue leaped to the fore when residents of an area held protest demonstration and threatened to boycott polls to protest against disruption of drinking water supply to their area since cyclone Phailin hit the area.

Residents of Sarada Bhavan Sahi and Cooperative colony blocked the Ashok Nagar main road with empty pots. They also put up a banner threatening to boycott the coming polls on April 10, if they did not get any written promise from the authorities of Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) regarding solution to their problem.

Pushpanjali Mishra, a woman who led the agitation said since cyclone Phailin hit, piped drinking water to their area had completely snapped. Till now it had not been repaired and water was being distributed to the area by tankers, which was not sufficient during the summer months. Former mayor of the city Siba Shankar Dash, who has defected from the ruling BJD to become the candidate of the BJP for Berhampur assembly seat reached out to the protestors and held discussions with them. The BJD corporator of the area Surendra Moharana also rushed there. The corporator accepted that the residents of the area were suffering due to lack of piped drinking water supply since past few months. Mr. Dash and Mr. Moharana urged the voters to refrain from poll boycott call as the problem could be solved. Source: The Hindu 

Famous Danda Natcha of Berhampur, Ganjam