Merger of 26 villages with Berhampur sought

The South Orissa Students' Association has demanded that the State government merge 26 periphery villages with Berhampur Municipal Corporation early for development of the city. Berhampur was elevated to a Municipal Corporation in December 2008. As per the gazette notification, the boundary of the new Municipal Corporation was to include 26 villages of 14 panchayats. But till now these villages have not become part of the BMC. Even during the process of census this year these villages were excluded from the population figures of Berhampur city. Recently, notification has been issued regarding reservation of seats for panchayat polls in 2012. These 14 panchayats which are proposed to be part of the BMC are also in the list, which indicates that till now no steps have been initiated for their merger with the BMC. The SOSA has written to the Chief Minister seeking merger of the villages.

Source: The Hindu