A protest by Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation’s 37th Ward Corporator Bandita Pal over the establishment of a dedicated ward office has entered its 12th day, while her indefinite hunger strike reached the seventh day on Monday as her health condition deteriorated.
The protest concerns the alleged failure of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and the General Administration Department to resolve the allotment of government land for a ward office. Pal has alleged administrative apathy and fraudulent practices in the handling of the land issue. The allegations have not been independently established in the report.
The dispute has drawn political attention in the capital city. Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Bhubaneswar Central assembly constituency candidate Jagannath Pradhan visited the protest site on Monday and met Pal, local residents, social activists and party workers. Following the discussions, Pradhan extended support to the corporator’s demands.
Pradhan expressed dissatisfaction over the absence of visible action from BMC officials and local police despite the protest continuing for 12 days. He said he would take up the matter with Housing and Urban Development Minister Dr Krushna Chandra Mahapatra and investigate the administrative hurdles linked to the proposed ward office.
The BJP leader also urged Pal to withdraw her hunger strike and assured her that he would pursue the matter. Pal, however, decided to continue the fast until she saw concrete action from the administration, according to the report.
The corporator’s health has become a central concern as the protest continues. A medical team from Capital Hospital conducted health check-ups at the protest site in the morning, afternoon and night on Monday. Doctors reported that her health was steadily declining and recommended deploying a dedicated medical team if the fast continued.
A ward office is intended to provide a local point of contact between residents and the municipal administration. The dispute in Ward 37 has therefore brought attention to how civic bodies identify and allot land for neighbourhood-level administrative facilities, as well as how unresolved land and departmental issues can delay local public infrastructure.
The report said that neither the BMC nor the administrative authorities had taken visible remedial measures by Monday. The continuing protest has consequently developed into a political flashpoint involving the municipal corporation, the General Administration Department, local residents and state-level urban development authorities.
Pradhan is expected to take up the matter with the Housing and Urban Development Minister, while the protest and medical monitoring are continuing at the site. No formal administrative resolution or land-allotment decision was reported at the time of publication.
