Berhampur: Hope for the merger of several peripheral villages under different panchayats into Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) emerged again after housing and urban development minister Krushna Chandra Mohapatra on Monday directed the Ganjam collector to act soon in this regard.
A delegation of Sahara Tali Anchal Milita Kriya Anusthan Committee, an organisation formed to spearhead the agitation for the merger of adjoining villages, met with the minister at the Berhampur Development Authority (BeDA) office. Mohapatra directed Ganjam collector Dibya Jyoti Parida to submit a report about the issue soon.
The committee demanded the merger of 62 villages in 18 gram panchayats, located adjoining BeMC. The committee also moved the Orissa high court over after the minister ruled out a merger of the villages into BeMC during the previous assembly session.