BHUBANESWAR: As many as 556 houses have been demolished by the joint enforcement squad at Salia Sahi in the last three days to make way for the left parallel road (LPR) project along Jayadev Vihar-Nandankanan stretch.
While the massive eviction exercise had led to protests by some of the affected people, the government has warned of stern action against those who tried to block the work. Housing and Urban Development (H&UD) minister Krushna Chandra Mahapatra said some elements with vested interest tried to instigate slum-dwellers against the eviction drive. They will be identified and taken to task, he said.
BDA and BMC officials said during the three-day eviction carried out in the slum to clear around 1 km stretch of encroached area along Ekamra park, all the houses identified during the joint survey were demolished. “The eviction drive is almost complete and a few structures that remain will be cleared on Friday,” said an official.
He said the cleared land patch will now be handed over to Roads and Buildings wing for starting work on the 13-km-long LPR project from CRP square to Nandankanan.
Apart from removing the encroachment, the BDA and BMC also removed the slum-dwellers from the site where they had set up temporary tents. “All the slum-dwellers have now been shifted to the transit shelters in Buddha Vihar. Their Aadhaar card verification will be done and those identified eligible will be rehabilitated by the government,” said an official.