Orissa HC Directs CMC To Prepare Norms For Kalyan Mandaps In Cuttack In 2 Months

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has set the deadline for the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) to prepare regulations for Kalyan Mandaps and submit to the state government.

A division bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice RK Pattanaik issued the direction after hearing a PIL filed by E Venkat Rao in 2015 on traffic chaos near Kalyan Mandaps in Cuttack during social functions.

The petitioner had drawn the court’s attention to lack of space for parking vehicles at these facilities and sought its intervention in this regard.

The counsellor representing the CMC, Debashis Nayak submitted before the court that the process of preparing the detailed regulation was taking time and the exercise was expected to be completed within two months. The CMC had engaged consultant CRISIL for preparation of CDA regulations for regulating development of core areas of Cuttack. The regulations would also deal with the issue of construction of Kalyan Mandaps in the core area, he said.

Allowing the plea for 2-month time, the bench directed that the regulations should be prepared and placed before the government for approval not later than September 5. “In the meanwhile, the directions issued by this court on November 9, 2016 as reiterated in the order dated February 8, 2022 will continue,” TNIE quoted the Bench as saying. The court fixing September 12 as next date for hearing.

In its order on November 9, 2016, the court had made it mandatory for the mandaps to earmark 40% of built-up area for parking. However, for thpse mandaps which have already been functioning for 5 years, the court relaxed it to 20%.