HC gives 3 months to merge panchayat, 3 villages in BeMC

Berhampur: The Orissa high court has directed the municipal administration, housing and urban development director to finalize the merger of a panchayat and three other villages with the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (

BeMC

). The court, while disposing of a writ petition filed by some people of the adjoining villages of BeMC, directed to complete the entire exercise within three months from the date of communication of the order issued on January 11. The Ganjam district administration had intimated to the director on January 14, 2020, that Luchapada panchayat and three other villages, including Sanakusathali of Badakuthali panchayat and

Bramhanpalli

of Gounja panchayat, and

Golabandh

Army Training School in Golabandh panchayat had resolved to merge with the BeMC. The district administration had also submitted the resolutions of the gram panchayats concerned. Based on the resolutions passed by the panchayats concerned, the court directed the government to finalize the issue and complete the entire exercise in three months, said

Sanjeba Kumar Patnaik

, one of the petitioners and president of the

Sahara Tali Anchal Milita Kriya Anusthan Committee

. The committee has been agitating for the last four years demanding to merge the villages adjoining the BeMC area with the civic body. A BeMC official declined to comment on the development citing violation of the model code of conduct for the panchayat polls.
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