The Unsung Hero Behind Bhubaneswar As Odisha Capital

Berhampur: While Bhubaneswar is celebrating 75^th Capital Foundation Day, many perhaps do not know the pivotal role played by Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayan Deb of Paralakhemundi in making Bhubaneswar the capital city of Odisha.

Narayan Deb became the first Prime Minister of Odisha from 1 April 1937 to 18 July 1937 and for the second time from 24 November 1941 to 30 June 1944. He donated all his earnings for public cause only. The title of Maharaja was awarded to him as a personal distinction by Lord Willingdon, Viceroy and Governor General of India in 1936. Because of his eminence and service to India, he was conferred with the prestigious Knighthood KCIE (Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire) by the King of England in 1946.

As the advisor to the Governor of Odisha Austin Hubback, Deb’s opinion was considered important when there were proposals to establish permanent capital of Odisha at Cuttack, Barang, Choudwar, Puri, Angul and Rangeilunda.

Padma Charan Sahu, the author of ‘Satavdi Purush’ (biography on Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati Narayan Deb) described in his book that the Maharaja vehemently rejected the proposals of substitute places as capital of Odisha in a meeting at ‘Raj Bhavan’ in Puri in 1937 when the Governor was residing in Puri.

The meeting was attended by many eminent persons including Harekrushna Mahatab, Biswanath Das, Pandit Neelakantha Das, Bhubanananda Das, Satya Narayan Rajguru, Prana Krushna Parija, Godavaris Mishra, many historians and litterateurs.

While some wanted the capital to be located at Puri, others opposed it on the ground that it was a religious town and therefore not fit to be the seat of a secular government.

The people and politicians from southern Odisha demanded the capital to be shifted to the south. Sashi Bhushan Rath, the founder of ‘Asha’, had created public opinion at that time to establish the capital at Rangeilunda in the name of ‘Udaya Nagar’ which was proposed by Raja Saheb of Khallikote Ramachandra Mardaraj Deo.

But Krushna Chandra Gajapati rejected the proposal of Rangeilunda as the capital to avoid the influence of Telugu people in administration as Berhampur was dominated by Telugus then.

There was also a proposal to establish the capital city in Angul as it is geographically located at the centre of Odisha. But Harekrushna Mahatab rejected it on the plea of water scarcity there.

Initially, he wanted Cuttack to be retained as capital by modernising the town. For that purpose, he consulted the town planners of the Tata Company. The planners held that the topography of Cuttack town practically made its modernisation difficult and expensive. Expansion towards Choudwar was impossible without construction of bridge on the Mahanadi.

Though Cuttack, the headquarters of Odisha Division, was the centre of all cultural and political activities, it was found to be insufficient and congested for a provincial capital because of its location between the Mahanadi and Kathjodi rivers.

In 1933, the Odisha Administrative Committee recommended the retention of the provincial capital of Cuttack. After the creation of the separate province, for various reasons, the question of an alternative capital site was raised. Then Cuttack-Puri rivalry reappeared.

In May 1937, when Maharaja Krushna Chandra was the Prime Minister, the Government of Odisha appointed a Committee with IR Dain as the chairman to prepare a feasibility report on the construction of capital.

On September 30, 1946, the Odisha Legislative Assembly passed a unanimous resolution for the construction of Capital at Bhubaneswar. In 1948, the Government of Odisha hired Otto Koenigsberger, a German Jew who had fled from Nazi Germany, to work as the town planner for the capital. On 13 April 1949, the foundation stone of the new capital was laid by first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. On October 10, 1949, the Odisha Legislative Assembly met at Bhubaneswar for the first time.

There were some hindrances to the construction of Capital at Bhubaneswar, such as lack of funds, the reluctance of Cuttack-based employees to move to offices at Bhubaneswar and opposition from some prominent Congressmen. While the Government of Odisha requested the Government of India to provide Rs 2 crore for the capital construction, Liaquat Ali Khan, the Minister of Finance in the interim Government gave a grant of Rs 1.32 crore. Harekrushna Mahtab’s departure from Odisha for joining the Central cabinet and Chief Minister Nabakrushna Chaudhury’s stay at Cuttack for some time in 1951 delayed the construction work at Bhubaneswar.

By the end of 1951, nine offices – the PWD, the Secretariat, the Directorate of Health, the Inspector General of Prisons, the Registrar of Cooperative Societies, the Public Relations, the Agriculture, the Forestry and the Tribal and Rural Welfare – had moved from Cuttack to temporary buildings at Bhubaneswar. During Mahtab’s absence from Odisha, the opposition of political leaders like Radhanath Rath and Bishwanath Das posed hindrances to capital construction at Bhubaneswar.