BHUBANESWAR: Suffering for several years during monsoon, residents of low lying areas in Acharya Vihar have a reason to rejoice. The municipal authorities on Saturday demolished encroachments in Madhusudan Nagar on Saturday to make way for a 750-metre drain.
The eviction drive began at about 9 am and continued till 4 pm. Two excavators were used to bring down the boundary wall of about 22 houses.
Two platoons of police ensured smooth progress of the drive, which was jointly conducted by Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), General Administration (GA) Department and the drainage division.
BDA Enforcement Officer Deba Prasad Dash said very few people resisted the drive as they were informed about it in advance.
Due to heavy encroachment, the low lying areas in Acharya Vihar get inundated even after a brief spell of rain every year. During monsoon, the residents are forced to remain indoor as waist deep water flows outside.
The Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) of the city, prepared by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur in 2010, suggested construction of a 750-metre drain in Madhusudan Nagar. But, a group of residents, who had encroached the land belonging to GA Department in 2006, filed a case in High Court seeking ownership of the encroached area. When the civic authorities tried to clear the encroachment, the residents collectively filed a case against eviction in 2012.
Executive Engineer, Drainage Division (Cuttack), Pradeep Duria said the covered drain to be constructed in Acharya Vihar will be connected with the natural drainage Channel-4. Earlier, the drain carrying water was not wide enough to effectively discharge the rain water which resulted in water logging.
Though work on the new drain commenced in 2011, it had to be stopped midway due to legal hassles. The HC in its latest judgment issued recently, took a strong stance against the encroachment saying, “Settling the Government land in favour of encroachers is just like rewarding a pickpocket.”