of sandstone underlies these subdivisions while occasional laterite stone outcrops can be seen at many places. Administration The district is headed by a collector and district magistrate, usually from the Indian Administrative Service. The collector combines revenue collection functions with law and order responsibilities under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. He is also the lynchpin of development activities in the district and chairs numerous committees to oversee the same. In his day-to-day functions, he is assisted by two additional district magistrates who look after Revenue and General Administration. The district is divided into a total of 15 Tahsils each headed by a Tahsildar for land revenue purposes. Development activities in the district under the Panchayati Raj Department are overseen by the project director, District Rural Development Agency. The Collector is the ex-officio CEO of this agency. A total of 14 blocks under the Orissa Panchayat Samiti Act are operational in the district each headed by a Block Development Officer who reports directly to the project director and the collector. Policing is the responsibility of the Superintendent of Police or SP who is nominally under the District Magistrate but is independent in practice. Each block has one or more police stations headed by an Inspector or Sub Inspector in-charge. After the introduction of the Bhubaneswar–Cuttack Police Commissionerate, Magisterial powers in the urban area covered under it have been vested in the Commissioner of Police who exercises them through deputy and Assistant Commissioners of Police. The SP and senior officers of the Commissionerate are usually from the Indian Police Service. The three subdivisions of Banki, Athagad and Sadar are each headed by a Sub Collector cum Sub Divisional Magistrate who exercises most of the powers of the Collector in his jurisdiction. His police counterpart is the Subdivisional Police Officer. The Sub Collector exercises both direct and indirect control over the Tahsils, Blocks and Police Stations in his jurisdiction. The urban areas of Cuttack, Banki, Athagad and Choudwar are constituted as municipal bodies. Cuttack Municipal Corporation is usually headed by a senior Indian Administrative Service officer called the municipal commissioner who is independent from the collector in his day-to-day functioning. The other three urban bodies have executive officers who report to the project director, District Urban Development Authority and the Collector. The district and Sessions Judge of Cuttack handles both civil and criminal cases. He is assisted by a number of additional