Following is an excerpt from a New Indian Express report.

Demand for creation of a separate Ghumusur district is gaining momentum.

This means, the erstwhile Ganjam district, which was split into two in 1992 , will be further divided. … people from Bhanjanagar area want greater administrative powers on the ground that the sub-divisional headquarters is 100 km away from Ganjam.

Bhanjanagar is the largest administrative and revenue sub-division in the State with eight blocks, five tehsils and five Notified Area Councils (NAC) under it. The RDC (SD) had earlier forwarded the proposal of the agitating mass to the Board of Revenue for consideration.

However, no action was taken, rather the proposal was kept pending till another related proposal was submitted. Last month, the Board of Revenue asked for a detailed proposal for the new district, which was prepared under the supervision of Ganjam Collector V Kartikeyan Pandian and sent for approval.

Presently, Ganjam district has 22 blocks, 14 tehsils, 198 revenue circles, 475 gram panchayats and 3,171 villages with a population of around 31.60 lakh. If Ghumusur district was to be carved out of Ganjam, the proposed district will have eight blocks, four tehsils, 54 revenue circles, 173 gram panchayats and 1,143 villages with a population of 9.84 lakh, the report said.

It also stated that to smoothen the work of the administration, the Aska block be converted into a sub-division comprising nearby blocks. The collectorate for proposed Ghumusur district will be housed at the office of Bhanjanagar Sub- Collector.