Dissent from within: City corporators flay NOC diktat

BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has drawn flaks from its own corporators for its controversial order asking people to obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) from it by paying Rs 1,000 for holding demonstrations at the Mahatma Gandhi Marg (MGM) here. The civic body was earlier criticized by civil society organizations and political parties for the decision.
Taking umbrage at the decision, the corporators said the civic body should have taken them into confidence before bringing out the notification on February 18. "The proposal should have been first placed before the BMC standing committee on license and appeals and subsequently at the monthly corporation meeting for clearance," they said.
"The standing committee was not consulted. I came to know about such an order from media reports," said Pramila Parida, corporator of ward no.12 and chairperson of the standing committee on license and appeals.
"Since the election code of conduct was in vogue for the rural polls, the corporation should have waited for some days and consulted with corporators before going ahead with the decision," standing committee member Manoranjan Behera said.
The chairman of BMC's standing committee on public health and environment, Sheikh Nizammuddin, too, expressed unhappiness over the NOC order. "Since collection of the dharna fee is aimed at keeping the dharna venue clean and hygienic, the standing committee on public health should have been involved earlier in the decision making."
BMC mayor A N Jena continued to defend the order and said, "The mayor has the power to pass an order initially without placing it in corporation meeting. It can be placed before corporators later for their suggestions."
"Demonstrators have no right to pollute public place. They should obtain NOC and pay fee to help us carry out cleaning activities on MGM," he added.
CPI activists on Wednesday besieged the BMC office demanding revocation of the dharna fee order. Civil society organizations have so far defied the diktat and are staging a sit-in on MGM without obtaining the NOC.
"We are facing difficulty in convincing the demonstrators. But we are hopeful that they would understand the objective of the move," BMC license wing head Debasis Mohanty said.