Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has warned citizens that any person or organisation excavating roads without permission will be fined. A decision in this regard was taken in the intra-departmental meeting of the civic body presided by BMC Commissioner Vijay Amrita Kulange at its headquarters on Wednesday.
The high-level meeting was attended by Additional Commissioner Suryashunhi Mayur Vikas, Deputy Commissioner Revenue Priyobrat Padhi, senior officers of Watco, Idco, BSNL, OPTICL, GAIL India Limited, Power Grid, Jio Reliance, Bharti Airtel, senior officers of Tata Communication Limited, Voda Phone, and other companies.
The meeting decided that any organisation or person laying road cables, installing poles, gas pipelines, sewerage work, or digging roads for construction work would henceforth need to take permission from the BMC before undertaking the tasks.
It is worth noting that the BMC has been receiving several complaints regarding rampant digging of roads that leave potholes which are often the main reasons for road accidents in the city and also undermine the civic body’s efforts to beautify the city.
The resolution adopted at the BMC meeting in this connection says that any department, corporation, or institution shall follow the existing rules in the interest of the public and need to take the BMC’s permission before cutting the road showing proper reasons. After receiving an application to dig/excavate roads for any purpose, a team of BMC will then visit the concerned spot and submit a report before granting permission.
The BMC Commissioner said that such fines will be imposed on any person or organisation digging roads and piling debris like sand, soil, gravel, etc., or hanging cables on the roadside.
