BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) will launch a joint eviction drive at the Iskcon temple at Nayapalli here to demolish shops and structures of the temple constructed allegedly on encroached land.The move of the civic bodies came three days after the BMC’s show cause notice to the Iskcon temple president for encroachment of land earmarked for ‘Right of Way’ (Road) adjoining the National Highway-16 by the temple authorities.
The BMC has also requested the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Bhubaneswar to deploy adequate police forces and an Eviction Magistrate by 9 am on Saturday near the temple to carry out the drive. The joint eviction drive will be carried out by the enforcement squad of the civic bodies under the supervision of Central Enforcement Monitoring Committee (CEMC).
After drawing severe flak from all the quarters over waterlogging on the road in front of the temple, the BMC on Wednesday issued a show cause notice to the temple president for encroaching the land and illegally constructing shops on it. The BMC in its letter has pointed out that encroachment of the land prevents flow of storm water and causes insanitary conditions in the area.
A BMC official said the temple authorities are yet to comply with the show cause notice. While the temple authorities couldn’t be contacted for their comment, they had earlier stated that there are no encroachments.