Latest news with #BhubaneswarMunicipalCorporation
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
10,000 traders yet to get trade licence in city
1 2 Bhubaneswar: At least 10,000 traders in the city do not have trade licence, resulting in huge revenue loss for the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), officials said. While identifying the trades and traders is a dynamic process, the BMC is yet to evolve a scientific approach to enrol new traders. As per the standard practice, new traders volunteer to register for a trade licence certificate. If they don't take part in the process, they evade paying trade licence fees until they are caught during raids, officials said. Ajay Mohanty, BMC deputy commissioner (revenue), said the database of holding tax can be used to identify traders because holding tax is also collected from business establishments. "There are thousands of traders outside the trade licence ambit. New traders come, and old ones shut down business. Direct survey is not possible. We have an online registration system whereby traders self-declare about the nature of their business. There are different slabs of tariffs for different trades," Mohanty said. If there are around 50,000 traders in Bhubaneswar, the civic body is receiving trade licence fees from around 40,000. Five years ago, about 50% of traders had the licence. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like American Investor Warren Buffett Recommends: 5 Books For Turning Your Life Around Blinkist: Warren Buffett's Reading List Undo Obtaining a trade licence is mandatory to run a business under BMC's jurisdiction, officials said. "There are two ways to get evasive traders under the licence ambit. We have formed four teams that will conduct raids. If traders are found without a licence, they will be penalised, and the trade licence fee will also be collected," Mohanty added. Earlier, BMC tried to fetch traders' data from the power distribution company through the list of consumers. Out of them, it filtered the traders and segregated the data. Still many were left out. "BMC has the power to issue trade licence certificates and give permission to traders to run businesses under its jurisdiction under sections 554 and 617 of the Orissa Municipal Corporation Act, 2003," Mohanty said. BMC has asked its officers to carry out regular checks to bring all the traders under its purview and make them pay the trade licence fees online. Prior to 2020, BMC had a database of only 13,000 traders, as many new traders were not identified, resulting in the civic body losing revenue. In Feb 2021, BMC signed a pact with a private agency to conduct a survey to bring left-out traders under the trade licence ambit but the move did not work out.
Time of India
5 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Residents ‘dissatisfied' with city's Swachh survey ranking
1 2 Bhubaneswar: Residents have expressed their dissatisfaction on social media platforms over smart city Bhubaneswar securing 9th position in the Swachh Survekshan 2024-25 survey, whose results were announced in New Delhi on Thursday, with many claiming the ranking is not reflective of the ground reality. The capital city secured the spot among cities with populations between 3 lakh and 10 lakh, a category comprising 95 cities. In the previous edition of the survey, Bhubaneswar was ranked 34th among 446 cities, a scale five times larger than the current one. A post by Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on X celebrating the city's ranking received 63 replies within 24 hours, the highest for any post by the civic body in recent times, with residents sharing images of uncollected rubbish, waterlogged roads and other sanitation issues. An user commented, "Great to hear. Best wishes. Some award should be initiated for the most polluted city in India also." Another user criticised the BMC's public relations efforts, stating, "Just visit lanes of different wards of BMC, to realise ground reality." Smaller towns like Chikiti and Aska in Ganjam district received national awards for their cleanliness measures, ranking second in the 'very small cities' and 'small cities' categories, respectively. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Is it legal? How to get Internet without paying a subscription? Techno Mag Learn More Undo Both towns were recognised by President Droupadi Murmu during the award ceremony held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on Thursday, highlighting the contrast with Bhubaneswar's state-level recognition. Bikash Jena, a resident of Patia, said, "I don't understand when towns like Chikiti and Ganjam received national awards for being cleanest, how does Bhubaneswar receive an award for being cleanest in the state?" He added that it might be a consolation prize for Bhubaneswar. BMC faces calls to address the sanitation issues and improve the city's cleanliness standards, with residents urging the authorities to bridge the gap between rankings and reality.
Time of India
13-07-2025
- Health
- Time of India
BMC focus on destroying mosquito breeding sources, dengue awareness
1 2 Bhubaneswar: With the city reporting 114 dengue cases so far this year, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is focusing on spreading awareness about the disease, its symptoms, transmission and preventive measures in every household. The initiative assumes significance as a survey by the health wing of BMC revealed that larvae of Aedes mosquito, carriers of the dengue virus, were found more in containers outside rather than in households. In 20 household samples, mosquito larvae were found. On the other hand, larvae were found in water samples from 30 containers. "Clean water stagnating in such places ultimately turns into larvae breeding grounds, leading to the growth of Aedes mosquitoes," said a BMC officer. BMC allayed fears by stating the test positivity rate was around 1.3% per 100 samples, which is not alarming. "If the average daily testing number is 246, it can be inferred that two cases are reported daily, which is not at all alarming. Most of the cases were reported in June and July as the monsoon arrived a bit early this time," said BMC additional commissioner Suvendu Sahu. Since then, 100 more volunteers have been engaged, apart from regular personnel, improving surveillance. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 이 게임은 대부분의 TV 프로그램보다 더 재미있어요 – 게다가 무료예요. Raid: Shadow Legends 플레이하기 Undo These volunteers focus on generating awareness and reducing mosquito breeding sources. The Urban Malaria Surveillance Unit (UMSU) has been overseeing the initiative, according to the BMC officer. City health officer Deepak Bisoyi said fogging is yet to start as it is not conducive on rainy and cloudy days. "We will start fogging very soon. All mosquito breeding sources have been destroyed so far," said Bisoyi. He further said, "We are implementing a grassroots approach to be able to reach every household in the capital city." Earlier, BMC wrote to industrial clusters, various offices and agencies maintaining parks to take strict measures to destroy mosquito breeding sources. Industrial premises, parks and vacant spaces mostly turn into mosquito dens during the monsoon and until Oct. "We have written to Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) so that it directs the industrial clusters to maintain cleanliness on their premises. They should ensure that no empty container, regardless of size, is left open during the rainy season because water collects in them," Sahu said.
Time of India
11-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
‘Illegal' market complex along flight path yet to be razed: Officials
Bhubaneswar: An unauthorised two-storey market complex in Jagamara, which falls along the approach path of flights at Biju Patnaik International Airport, is yet to be demolished despite repeated reminders to the civic authorities, BPIA officials said. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Tall trees around the area are also posing as obstructions during aircraft landing. Officials said getting a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the airport authorities is mandatory to get approval of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation for any construction. But in the case of the complex, no NOC was obtained, they said. "We flagged our concerns several times before the city authorities. They have so far cut three coconut trees. But the two-storey building is completely illegal," said airport director Prasanna Pradhan. He further said the airport is not empowered to serve notice and order demolition as per existing rules, and it is the mandate of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), and in some cases, the general administration department. "The Centre issued draft rules to regulate and remove obstructions such as buildings and trees that interfere with aircraft. The draft Aircraft (Demolition of Obstructions Caused by Buildings and Trees, etc.) Rules, 2025, were released under the Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024. It was in the public domain for 21 days for feedback. It is likely to be passed in Parliament very soon, after which airport authorities will be empowered to remove obstructions. This will reduce the cumbersome process of moving multiple agencies," Pradhan added. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The Airport Environment Management Committee (AEMC) pointed out the obstructions and safety issues. The BMC commissioner chairs the AEMC meeting. BPIA authorities recently surveyed the area jointly with officials of BMC, BDA, general administration department, and police. "There should not be any infringement on the approach light and obstacle-free zone (OFZ) of the airport," an airport official said. "After cutting the coconut trees, other tall trees along the airport's approach path will be felled," said BMC commissioner Rajesh Patil. "We are taking steps to remove more obstructions. The building owners will also be served a notice," he added. During landing and takeoff, birds flutter from trees as high as to hit an aircraft nose, fuselage, windshield and engine, which can pose potential danger to flights and may end in a crash, airport officials said.
New Indian Express
11-07-2025
- General
- New Indian Express
Two lakh saplings to be planted in, around Bhubaneswar this year
BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) will plant two lakh saplings in the state capital and its periphery this year. Housing and Urban Development minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra, who inaugurated the plantation programme on Thursday, said developing urban forests using Miyawaki method will be given priority. The minister planted saplings at Nagar Van project area in Kalinga Nagar. Mayor Sulochana Das said keeping in view the success of Miyawaki forests at six places last year, this year's programme will include development of 20 more mini urban forests using the same method. 'The technique will help us plant more trees within small spaces and create small urban forests while addressing the constraints of open space in the city,' she said. In 2024-25, the BMC had set a target of planting one lakh saplings. However, the civic body could plant only around 60,000 due to space constraints. Over 20,000 saplings had been planted in Miyawaki forest project.
