BHUBANESWAR: The wedding season is here but is it easy to get a good and affordable venue? Rising prices coupled with shortage of venues and a mad rush with a growing population of the fast developing Temple City have changed a few conventions of a wedding.Kalyan mandaps, community centres, hotels and banquet halls across the city have been booked for the next two months. There is no room anywhere on almost all the auspicious dates. Sources said, people have fixed marriage dates six months in advance and those who have not booked their mandap in advance would have a difficult time now. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation’s kalyan mandaps are the most preferred venues, as these are affordable. However, even as the population of Bhubaneswar has risen to over 10 lakh, there are just seven mandaps run by the BMC apart from a few private community centres. Of them, the Nayapalli Kalyan Mandap, Saheed Nagar Kalyan Mandap and VSS Nagar Mandap are the most sought after, as they are in the heart of the city. Tariff for these venues ranges from ` 7,000 to ` 10,000 with additional charges for lawns. Cashing in on the need are many private community centres, operating without licence. This apart, BMC ward officers have alleged that many house owners are using their premises as community centres and earning a lot of money during wedding season. This is being done without any permission from the civic authorities. The rents in these cases start from ` 30,000. Sources said these centres generate huge solid waste during marriage season and the civic sanitary staff end up cleaning them.To cater to the rising demand for more affordable venues for social functions, the BMC is planning to construct 10 more kalyan mandaps in the city. “We are planning to construct these 10 mandaps in wards where there are no community centres and the GA Department has been approached for land,” said Mayor Ananta Jena. The BDA is currently constructing a kalyan mandap at Unit-VI near the Indradhanu Market. This apart, the Mayor informed that it has been recently notified that any person who allows his premises to be used as community centre has to seek prior permission from the BMC for holding social functions and garbage lifting.
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