Reported by Santosh Jagdev

Bhubaneswar, Jan 27:

bda demolition

Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) today demolished a four-storied commercial building that runs two shops - Naturals Family Salon & Spa and a multi-cuisine restaurant named Jelly Bean at Plot number 889 -  in Madhsudan Nagar under Nayapalli police limits here.

According to BDA officials, Ranjit Kumar Sahoo, who owned the commercial building, had applied to BDA for 1960 sq ft of land for residential purposes in 2010. But he was allotted only 856 sq ft by BDA since there was not enough space for the size of the land that he had asked for at the place.

Sahoo, who had been allotted the land for residential purposes, used it commercially besides encroaching on adjacent government drain land, BDA sources said.

After getting information about the illegal use of the allotted land and the encroachment carried out by Sahoo, BDA lodged a UAP case number- (14/2011) against the owner and the demolition order came on 27 June, 2011. Later, the Odisha High Court handed over the case to the appellate authority to investigate the issue acting on a writ petition filed by the owner against the demolition order of BDA.

In 3rd march 2012, the Urban Development Secretary, after finding it illegal, ordered BDA to go ahead with demolition of the building and simultaneously take possession of the area encroached upon.

“With due notice from the appropriate authority, we published the demolition order in different Odia dailies many times in the year 2013 and finally started demolishing the building today. The demolition process will take 2-3 days to complete,” said Deba Prasad Dash, Enforcement Officer of BDA.

Dash also informed that 25 squads of BDA were engaged in the demolition of illegally built structures in the city.

To prevent any untoward incident during the demolition drive, one platoon of police force was deployed at the spot. Besides, one dozer, drilling machines and BMC trucks were pressed into service for the demolition work and to clear the debris, he added.

Operation Demolition is one of the biggest drives undertaken by the BDA against illegal constructions, enforcement officials of the BDA said adding at least 32 commercial buildings in the city have no permission or clearances from the BDA and they too will be demolished in the near future.