The rise of B-town in Odisha

Construction of multi-storied residential apartments has gained pace in small towns, which boasted only of standalone houses built by individual owners till recently.

Contrary to real estate development centered around the Cuttack-Puri-Bhubaneswar triangle alone earlier, several residential projects are coming up in Angul, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Balasore, Bhadrak, and Berhampur, among other towns. Apart from individual merits of certain towns because of industrial activities around them and their strategic locations, apartment culture is picking up across Odisha towns, industry insiders said.

Around 50 apartments with a total of 10,000 dwelling units are under different stages of construction in Berhampur alone. "People prefer apartments and planned constructions to buying land these days. Salaried employees have disposable money but don't have time to construct a house by employing a contractor on their own. They are the large clientele here," said P K Rajeev, a developer in the south Odisha town.

Berhampur with its good road and rail connectivity is a gateway to south Odisha, making it a preferred destination for people from neighbouring districts to invest and own a house here. The real estate price here is now as high as Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000 per sq ft, only a little less than the price in Bhubaneswar.

Jharsuguda, an emerging industrial town, where the government is planning the state's second airport, is coming up as another real estate hub. "Besides apartments, simplex and duplex houses, there are huge takers for plot schemes here," said Sajid Hussain, a developer there. With per sq ft price of Rs 1,350 to Rs 2,500, buyers are finding two bedroom houses below Rs 20,000, which is very cheap for them, he added.

Sambalpur is witnessing similar vertical and horizontal expansion with multiple developers undertaking huge projects. "Local residents staying outside the city for their jobs are the largest section of buyers in Sambalpur. This may be their post-retirement settlement plans," said Sambalpur Development Authority (SDA) chairman Bijay Mohanty.

In Bargarh, rice millers who had to down their shutters after the government decided to shift them outside the town some years ago, are using the available land to develop residential projects. Besides, apartments are also coming up on virgin land close to the upcoming bypass road of the NH. "Because of affordable land cost, our pricing is far lower compared to cities like Bhubaneswar, giving a chance to the low middle income groups to own a house here," said Jay Prakash Agarwal, a developer in Bargarh. The per square feet price of house starts from Rs 1,300 here with two bedroom flat available at Rs 13 lakh to Rs 15 lakh.

Developers said with land price skyrocketing in Bhubaneswar, housing cost in the city is exceptionally high. "This is ruling out a substantial section of low middle class families from buying a house in Bhubaneswar. These people can easily afford houses in the district towns. Many others who have money tend to own houses both in the state capital and in their native towns," said Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India state president D S Tripathy. Development of ports and industrialization in coastal districts has helped real estate activities in towns like Bhadrak and Balasore, he said.

Readers' opinions in Times of India

Anju (Shimla/ Berhampur)

I agree with kamal. the BJD government in the state is really discriminating Berhampur. 10 years back, the CM promised the completion of Berhampur Stadium, establishment of High court Bench, establishment of the airport etc, but nothing happened during this period. simply this govt. is cheating the people of Berhampur.

Kukud (Kolkata)

Mr Navin pattanaik the so called clean CM of Odisha is only focussing the development in and around Bhubaneswar totally neglecting the importance of other towns and coties of Odisha.If he want to earn the reputation of a good CM his Govt should focus on all around development of the state. Then only we can dream for a state with high growth and development. To outsiders Odisha has got only one city i.e BBSR, some times Cuttack though not as city of national repute bue as the oldest city of the state. Small states like Punjab, Haryana has cities of national repute. Our state need to follow the same root. Than only teh state can dazzle.

Berhampur rocks (India)

Berhampur rocks.....Its growth is the next big thing to happen in Odisha. The city is close to the Bay of Bengal and has University, medical college, a dozen engineering colleges, ports, SEZ, tourism, IT park and a traditional Business hub. It has history of hundreds of years, tradition and a progressive culture. The time for Berhampur has truely come.

Kamal Joshi (New Delhi)

In the above news the authorities accepted that after BBSR, Berhampur city in South Odisha is the second fastest growing urban center in Odisha. Reality is that if Odisha government provides more roads and infrastructure in Berhampur city even it can easily surpass the Capital of the State Bhubaneswar.

Gopalpur port, TATA Industrial park, energy city at sonpur, Software park, the business hub in the city and the world famous tourist centers like Maa Tara Tarini Hill Shrine, lofty mountains of Eastern Ghat, dance forest of Dandakaranya in south Odisha and famous Gopalpur sea beach which are present in and around the city are the main attractions of the place. It is clear that these type of facilities are not available in any other urban center in the state or in Eastern India.

With minimum facilities the silk city is still posing a challenge to the capital city. If Odisha govt. stop its step-motherly treatment towards Berhampur and provides national standard infrastructure, then this city can emerge as a mega commercial /Industrial hub in Eastern India. And only the people of the State can get the benefit out of it.

But unfortunately the present State government and the Bureaucracy knowingly suppressing the growth of this urban centre.

Though huge urban agglomeration coming up in and around Berhampur city the State administration knowingly keeping these areas out of the boundary of the third corporation of the state.

Where as, in contrast to that in Bhubaneswar, the same state administration has been bringing more and more villages (from phul nakhara - khurda) only to elevate the population of Bhubaneswar to 10 lakhs. Its simply unfortunate.............

To check its progress the state administration has not implemented any development project during the last 10 years in Berhampur.

its the time, Odiaha chief minister Mr. Naveen Patnaik must intervene in it, review it and must instruct the bureaucracy to remove the roadblocks before the development of Berhampur city and implement the projects sanctioned by the state govt. in a faster pace .

All the people must remember that Berhampur city has many advantages in its favour and undoubtedly it is the 'future' of Odisha. Therefore, for the better future of the state it’s the duty of all of us to put pressure on the state govt. for the faster development of this ancient city.

Source: The Times of India