Berhampur: A bar running on the premises of the guest house of the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) has sparked off grave resentment among the local people.
According to sources, the BeMC in Odisha’s Ganjam district had leased out the management of its guest house and adjoining Kalyan Mandap on the Town Hall Road in the city to a private party three years ago.
It had also given permission to the lease holder to run a bar situated just backside of the guest house. The entrance of the bar faces towards the Kalyan Mandap.
The BeMC had stopped liquor and lottery business in any of its buildings throughout the city two years ago. It even issued notices to the lease holders to stop selling liquor. But the bar continues to operate from the guest house complex, raising questions on the civic body’s integrity.
“The bar in the guest house complex clearly exposes the unholy nexus between its owner and the BeMC. The bar, situated a few metre from the historic Khallikote College, is run by flouting the foreign liquor rules,” said Pitabas Panda, a well-known advocate and member of State Bar Council.
Demanding the BeMC to clarify on the matter, he said the conditions of the lease given to the private party must be made public. If the BeMC fails to meet the demand, he would move the court, said Panda who is also a BJP leader.
The Municipal Guest House with 28 rooms situated in a prime location, was built in 1961 when Basant Panigrahi was Chairman of the Berhampur Municipality. BeMC planned to convert the guest house into a multipurpose centre to make it economically viable in 2016. An amusement park for children, restaurant, shopping mall and the guest house were proposed to be constructed at a cost of Rs 6 crore. But the plan was dropped subsequently.
In 2018, when K Madhavi was Berhampur mayor, the BeMC proposed to build a six-storey commercial complex by demolishing the Municipal Guest House and the adjoining Kalyan Mandap on public private partnership (PPP) mode.
The ground floor was planned to be used for parking of vehicles, first and second floor exclusively for a market and the third as a food court. One complete floor was planned to be dedicated for the Guest House. The proposal was submitted in the council meeting of the BMC and endorsed unanimously on July 18, 2018.