BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) has demolished over 350 houses in Chunukoli slum of the city near OERC square in the past three days, to pave way for the left parallel road (LPR).
BDA officials said their enforcement squad on Friday demolished 101 houses and other unauthorised constructions on government land as per the requirement of the R&B authorities. A total 354 houses were demolished in the last three days between Wednesday and Friday, clearing approximately 4 acres of government land, they said.
Officials said adequate police force was present during the eviction drive to maintain law and order. They said around 20 to 30 more houses, constructed on encroached land, will be demolished on Saturday, to clear the entire land patch.
An official from the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) said though the number of houses demolished was over 350, the actual number of beneficiaries identified during the eviction is around 219. The 13-km-long project connecting CRP Square with Nandankanan had been moving at a snail’s pace for nearly a decade owing to hurdles in land acquisition.
While a major part of the road work was completed years back, around 1.5 km stretch near Salia Sahi and OERC square had stalled owing to delay in land acquisition and removal of encroachments. Work was expedited after the government and the BMC carried out a large-scale eviction drive, demolishing 556 houses from the Salia Sahi slum in November last year.
The fresh eviction will clear encroachment in another patch, allowing authorities to connect the road upto Sikharchandi hills, officials said.
Apart from LPR, the government has also expedited measures for completion of the Right Parallel Road (RPR) project, being executed by the BDA. Of the 6.5 km stretch connecting the New Government Colony road to Kalarahanga Square, road connectivity in around 4 km stretch has been completed. However, the remaining 2.5 km portion between Guru Kelucharan Park and Patia railway station has not seen any progress owing to land acquisition hurdles.