Councillors quit over Dhanu Yatra venue shift

SAMBALPUR: Five councillors from the 19-member Bargarh Municipality submitted their resignation protesting against the district administration's decision to shift the venue of the Raj Durbar of King Kansa during Dhanu Yatra festival.
The venue was shifted from Hatpada to Nishamani field in the town. The next edition of the 11-day annual open air theatre fest is scheduled to start from January 2.
The councillors submitted their resignation to the executive officer of Bargarh Municipality on Tuesday.
Those who resigned were Bedamati Pradhan, Sashi Agrawal, Basudev Bagarty, Ajit Seth and Manoj Pradhan. While Manoj is a Congress councillor, the others belong to the BJD.
Bargarh district collector Anjan Kumar Manik said the venue has been shifted for security reason. Secretary of Dhanu Yatra committee, Sureswar Satpathy said the Raj Durbar of King Kansa is held at Hatpada. But because of the huge crowd, the Raj Durbar functioned for seven days at Hatpada and four days at Nishamani ground last year. "Now the district administration has decided to shift the Raj Durbar to Nishamani ground and make it functional there for the entire 11 days," Satpathy said.