Bhubaneswar: The process for creating 20 new Notified Area Councils (NACs) in Odisha has been set in motion.
“We have forwarded the feasibility reports received from district administration for creation of 20 new NACs to the Panchayati Raj Department and sought its opinion on them,” Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) Minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra said on Wednesday.
Following a scrutiny by the Panchayati Raj Department, the H&UD Department will send a proposal for creation of the new NACs to the Chief Minister. “The state government is making efforts to raise the state’s urban coverage to 30 per cent from the current 17 per cent by creating new NACs and municipalities,” the Minister added.
It also includes plans for establishing the metropolitan development region, covering 7,000 sq km and encompassing Bhubaneswar, Khurda, Jatni, Cuttack, Paradip and Puri.
Notably, the previous Naveen Patnaik government had announced plans to create 34 new NACs in 20 districts and upgrade five NACs in four districts to municipalities on February 24, 2024, ahead of the twin polls in the state.
