A hunger strike by Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation’s 37th Ward Corporator Bandita Pal entered its seventh day on October 13, with her health reportedly deteriorating and political support growing over demands for a dedicated ward office. Her broader sit-in protest has continued for more than 12 days.
The protest concerns the proposed establishment of a ward office and allegations of administrative inaction and fraudulent practices linked to the allotment of government land by officials of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and the General Administration Department. The report does not provide details of the alleged irregularities or identify any official against whom a formal finding has been made.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Bhubaneswar Central assembly constituency candidate Jagannath Pradhan visited the protest site on Monday. He met Pal, local residents, social activists and party workers before extending support to her demands.
Pradhan expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of visible action from BMC officials and local police despite the continuing protest. He said he would raise the matter with Housing and Urban Development Minister Dr Krushna Chandra Mahapatra and seek a permanent solution to the dispute.
The BJP leader also urged Pal to withdraw her hunger strike, saying he would personally examine the bureaucratic hurdles involved. Pal, however, decided to continue the fast until she saw concrete action from the administration, according to the report.
The protest has also raised an immediate health concern. A medical team from Capital Hospital reportedly examined Pal in the morning, afternoon and night on Monday. Doctors said her condition was steadily declining and recommended that a dedicated medical team be deployed if the fast continued.
A ward office is a local administrative interface between residents and the municipal corporation, although the source report does not specify the proposed site, the land-allotment process, the nature of the alleged irregularities or the precise civic services expected to operate from the facility. It also does not record a response from the BMC, the General Administration Department or the local police to the allegations and demands.
The dispute therefore remains centred on two immediate questions: whether the administration will respond to the corporator’s demand over the proposed ward office site, and what medical safeguards will be put in place while the indefinite hunger strike continues. Pradhan’s proposed discussion with the state Housing and Urban Development Minister is the next stated administrative step.
