Bhubaneswar: People are facing loads of difficulties in availing services at Bhubaneswar tehsil office as normalcy is yet to be restored after cyclonic storm Fani ravaged the office infrastructure May 3.
According to sources, at least nine computers, two printers, three scanners, two Xerox machines and many important files of the tehsil office have been damaged by the summer storm.
Tehsildar Sambit Kumar Gadanayak has written to Khurda Collector and sought early restoration of infrastructure at the tehsil office. Gadanayak has also raised the issue with the executive engineer of Public Works department (PWD), but to no avail.
“At least 300 people visit Bhubaneswar tehsil office every day to avail various services. They have been facing problems to get caste certificates and other documents since May 3. The single-window operation at the tehsil office has been virtually stopped after the cyclone,” Gadanayak said.
It is learnt that delay in the restoration work at the tehsil office has affected land mutation and conversion. “The tehsil office would lose revenue worth Rs 4 lakh in a month due to discontinuance of land mutation and conversion,” said an official.
Similarly, the cyclonic storm has damaged infrastructure of Bhubaneswar sub-registrar office. The officials of the sub-registrar office were forced to stop land registration for 11 days. According to sources, the sub-registrar had written to the PWD executive engineer urging him to repair the damaged infrastructure. However, nothing has been done in this regard.
“Land registration at the sub-registrar office had been discontinued for 11 days soon after the cyclone. We had lost revenue worth Rs 20 crore,” said an official of the Bhubaneswar sub-registrar office.
According to sources, the May 3 cyclone has damaged infrastructure at the sub-collector office, civil court, CBI court, fast track court, bar association library and Endowment office in Bhubaneswar. As per an estimate, the state government would spend around Rs 35 lakh to restore infrastructure at the above said offices.
“The PWD should take immediate steps to repair the tehsil office and other government offices in the Capital City. People are being denied services due to delay in restoration work,” said Bhubaneswar bar association president Sheelabhadra Shastri.
PWD executive engineer Pradip Kumar Das said they have prepared an estimate to repair Bhubaneswar tehsil and other government offices. “The repair work would be started Wednesday,” Das added.