Odisha govt accords NAC status to Bijepur town

The Odisha government today accorded Notified Area Council (NAC) status to Bijepur town in Bargarh district and decided to set up a sub-registrar office in the town.
The decision comes ahead of a bypoll in Bijepur assembly constituency, necessitated following the death of Congress MLA Subal Sahu on August 22.
A statement issued by the BJD government today said the sub-registrar office would serve the people of at least 110 villages in the area.
"Fulfilling long-standing demands of people, CM approved sub-registrar office & Notified Area Council (NAC) status for Bijepur," the CMO said on its Twitter handle.
Two days ago, the BJD government had also announced the setting up of the state's first underground pipeline-based irrigation system in the town. The project, named after renowned Odia poet Gangadhar Meher, was estimated to cost nearly 1240 crore.

"The people here had been agitating for the NAC status for a long time now. They are happy with the initiatives taken by the state government," the former finance minister of the state and Rajya Sabha MP Prasanna Acharya said.
Taking a dig at the BJD government, Congress MLA Naba Das said the ruling party made the announcement to woo people before the ensuing bypoll here.
Last month, the BJD had declared Subal Sahu's wife Rita as its candidate for the bypoll.