Bhubaneswar: With a number of government lands presently under encroachment in the Capital City, several encroachers are usually seen occupying the lands again and again soon after being evicted by Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA).
Thanks to the apathy of BDA officials for not wire fencing the vacated lands or constructing compound walls around it.
With no strict rules, land mafias and common men take no time to occupy a government land and construct residential houses and business establishments on available open space.
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Slums have mushroomed i a rapid pace in many places across the Smart City.
The encroached lands worth lakhs of rupees are possessed by illegal occupants for years unless and until evicted. Encroachment has been a perennial problem in 67 wards of the city including Barmunda bus stand area, Khandagiri, Samantarapur, Pokhariput, Kailash Vihar, Sailashree Vihar, Patia, Damana, Satya Nagar, Badagada, Satya Vihar, Mancheswar and VSS Nagar, the private source added.
“Demolitions are carried out by BDA enforcement team using JCB machines. In many cases, it is seen that the evictions are left halfway. Ideally, the process should be completed with fencing or construction of the compound wall. However, the BDA officials concerned go into deep slumber following an eviction drive, thereby leaving ample of scope for encroachment,” many bonafide residents alleged.
When contacted, BDA land protection cell (LPC) civil project engineer Niroj Pattanayak said, “Fencing or compound wall construction should be carried out after an eviction. However, it is not being done in all cases except the places where it is barely needed.”
Compound walls have been constructed at different locations in Satya Vihar, Kailash Vihar, Club Town near Patia, Jagamara and in front of Kelucharan Park of Gadakana and few more, the official added.
Enforcement Section of BDA is tipped off about the encroachments from time to time. As per the CMC programme, the cell concerned is informed about places where the evictions are to be carried out.
“Despite opposition from local public at various places, we have been freeing up encroachments with the help of police force. However, we face opposition again while carrying out the fencing or compound wall construction works. In some cases, accurate demarcation of the evicted lands becomes essential for the purpose, which takes a lot of time,” the LPC civil project engineer Pattanayak mentioned.
Fencing and compound wall constructions were delayed following the Covid-19 outbreak. Otherwise, the works keep continuing daily except rainy days, floods and other natural calamities, Pattanayak said.
PNN