Bhubaneswar: A joint team of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) on Monday sealed as many as 10 Kalyan Mandaps, hotels and community centres in the capital city for allegedly violating various norms.
Among the sealed mandaps, one was reportedly operating from the premises of Pandit Nilakantha College of Library and Information Science near Janata Maidan in the capital city.
According to sources, the venues did not have building plan approvals from BDA, fire safety certificates, trade licences and were not paying holding tax. Besides, the marriage mandaps had been creating traffic chaos in the city.
"Among 94 mandaps in the city, 36 have submitted compliance reports to us. The reports are being verified by a scrutiny committee while enforcement against others is underway," said BMC Commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary.
"The enforcement drive is being carried out in a phased manner because we have to ascertain legal formalities before such action," Chaudhary added.
On the other hand, the owners of the Kalyan Mandaps opposed the move alleging that the civic authorities did not provide adequate time to them before carrying out such drive during this marriage season.
"Kalyan Mandaps are not like liquor brewing units and dance bars that the civic authorities are conducting such raids. One month notice given by the civic authorities is not sufficient as bookings for marriage is being done six months in advance. The BMC should have given more time to us" said Pratap Jena, president of Kalyan Mandap Owners' Association.