Bhubaneswar: With less than a week to go for the inauguration of the yearly ‘Khandagiri Magh Mela,’ the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) here is all set to grid up its lions for an organised execution of the function.
The popular religious and cultural fair is scheduled to begin from February 12 and end February 23. The BMC along with the Commissionerate of Police have proposed elabotary plans to avert any untoward incident at the event.
In its preparatory meeting held January 10, BMC commissioner Shubham Saxena issued directions related to sanitation, allotment of land for stalls, raising revenue and administration of the fair.
“For the process of land allotment we have already started the eviction process from Jagamara Road to Khandagiri. Today we demolished encroachments from Khandagiri square to Chari Chak. This process will continue for another few days until all the land is available for tender,” said Lalatendo Sahoo, South West Zonal Officer.
The allotment of stalls and collection of license fee will be done from February 10 to 11. The BMC has hiked the rates for temporary stalls from Rs.5,500 to Rs. 6,000 for the mela this year. Meanwhile, the rates for drama/opera on private and government land are set for Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 6,000 per day respectively.
“We will be strictly focusing on sanitation for this year fair. Spot auction on the parking lot will be done to ensure any traffic congestions. The security is also being tightened for the event, especially in the areas where plays will be staged,” Sahoo added.