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Foundation stones greet visitors at project sites

Staff Reporter

— Photo: Lingaraj Panda

A plaque placed in 2007 for an indoor stadium inside the Khallikote college but the work is yet to take off.

BERHAMPUR: Corroding planks of foundation stones laid by politicians for projects that never took off dot the city and areas around it.

They are silent witnesses of forgotten promises which are part of mainstream politics in present times. Just a few km from the city hidden behind bushes near Karapalli exists a foundation stone meant for a project to alleviate drinking water crisis in the city. The Congressmen of the city may have forgotten this historic foundation stone which was laid by late Sanjay Gandhi.

More than three decades back a foundation stone was laid for a hall for cultural activities which may have also served as a art gallery in the jubilee town hall campus. It was to be named Bhanja Kala Mandap. The then State Minister for Education Sarat Kumar Kar had laid the foundation stone in the presence of the then chairperson of the municipality, Prabhat Kumar Deo. Meanwhile, the old townhall is on its way to be transformed into an air conditioned modern auditorium. But all have forgotten the proposed Kala Mandap, whose foundation stone remains hidden behind weeds and unused tar drums.

During 1995 the then Urban Development Minister of the state had laid the foundation stone for an administrative building of the Berhampur Development Authority.

The foundation stone of the project is hidden behind a garbage dump near the office of the Revenue Divisional Commissioner. The aim was to house all major offices of the city in this proposed building which was never built. On Jan. 15, 2004 Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik laid the foundation stone for Biju Patnaik Sanskriti Bhavan, a hall for cultural activities in Hill Patna area of the city. Construction of the project is yet to start. Work for an indoor games hall in the Khallikote autonomous college stadium has not started till date although its foundation stone was laid around a year back.

The foundations stone laid for an indoor stadium in the city by the Chief Minister in Bijipur area four years back remains an unfulfilled dream.

The irony

The irony is that all these foundation stones were laid amidst much political fan-fare with the use of public money. It brings to the fore the question whether public money should be spent on foundation stone laying ceremonies.

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