Eviction drive in Odisha capital: Part of GGP Colony canal road cleared

Reported by Santosh Jagdev
Bhubaneswar, Aug 28:

Continuing their joint eviction drive, teams consisting of Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and General Administration (GA) Departments today removed unauthorized structures/encroachments along a 2 km stretch from GGP Colony Canal road to New National Highway (NH).

The eviction drive was conducted for the widening of the narrow arterial road connecting the NH, which had been facing severe traffic congestion and become a nightmare for commuters.

The Liasioning Officer of BDA Subhransu Sekhar Mohanty said the widening of arterial roads is under the BDA road widening plan and the decision for the eviction was taken in a City Enforcement Monitoring Committee (CEMC) headed by the BDA vice-chairman Dr Krishan Kumar recently.

35 unauthorised extended structures, 13 cabins, 15 boundary walls and one religious structure was demolished today by the eviction Squad in the presence of Enforcement Officer, BDA, Debaprasad Dash, Asst. Commissioner (Recovery), BMC and representative of the GA department.

The eviction drive was interrupted for some time due to incessant rain and disturbance created by some local people at the site. A big chunk of of the encroachments has been earmarked for eviction in next joint eviction programme of CEMC, scheduled on September 4, the BDA officer informed.

The Zonal ACP Nimai Charan Sethy, IICs of Infocity and Khandagiri police stations with three platoons of police force were also present at the eviction sites to maintain law and order during the demolition drive.