Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) corporator Bandita Pal has begun an indefinite hunger strike in Ward No. 37, demanding government approval for three public facilities after a seven-day community demonstration failed to produce a response from civic authorities.
Pal is staging the fast unto death on government land identified as Plot No. 892. According to the report, she will continue the protest until the General Administration Department issues formal permission to construct a dedicated ward office, a senior citizen home and a Mahila Samiti building for the area.
The protest marks an escalation of a dispute over long-pending infrastructure demands in the ward. Local residents and the corporator are seeking facilities intended to support municipal administration, senior citizens and women’s community activities. The report does not specify the estimated cost, proposed built-up area or implementation schedule for any of the three facilities.
The hunger strike followed a seven-day mass demonstration that, according to the report, did not receive a response from civic authorities. Residents subsequently joined a foot rally and procession in support of the demands. Hundreds of people, including women, were reported to have participated in the mobilisation and to have gathered beneath the protest tent.
Protesters also burned effigies and raised allegations that the administration was giving priority to private real estate interests over public convenience. These are allegations made by the protesters, and the report does not include a response from the BMC, the General Administration Department or any other state authority addressing them.
The dispute highlights the administrative chain involved in creating public facilities on government land. Although the demands relate to services within a municipal ward, construction permission for the identified plot is being sought from the General Administration Department. The report does not state whether a formal proposal, land-use clearance, building plan or funding approval has been issued.
The continuing fast now places pressure on the BMC and state authorities to respond to the demands and clarify the status of the proposed ward office, senior citizen home and Mahila Samiti building. No official deadline or next administrative step was specified in the report.
