BHUBANESWAR: In less than 12 hours of serving eviction notice to shopkeepers of Ganesh Bazaar haat under Laxmisagar police limits, the enforcement agencies of Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) razed the entire market during small hours of Friday leading to massive protests in the city.
The local BJP unit threw its weight behind the evicted shopkeepers who termed the market demolition in such a short span of time an act of political vendetta.Joint teams of BDA and BMC with the assistance of Commissionerate Police demolished the unauthorised structures over government plot no 686 in Jharpada mouza despite stiff resistance from the shopkeepers and locals.
Three houses, 14 godowns and 97 shops - all tin structures were razed during an early morning drive. Besides, about 25 polythene roofed shops selling non-vegetarian food and 52 wooden/tin cabins were pulled down.
Stating that the authorities served the eviction notice at around 4 pm on Thursday, the shopkeepers said that they could not make any alternative arrangements to shift their belongings within such a short span of time and incurred heavy loss. The police cordoned off the area before 1 am and started the drive in the wee hours to avoid opposition.
Official sources said it was an encroachment spread over 3.207 acre government land which was removed during the drive. The area was allotted by the General Administration department to the BDA for construction of a neighbourhood market, they claimed.BJP leaders alleged that the eviction was a political vendetta as the party’s Dharitri Jena was elected as Corporator of Ward 33 in the recently concluded urban local body polls in the State.
The shopkeepers have been doing business in the haat since 2008 after being relocated from a nearby place the same year. In 2021, they had requested Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi to regularise the haat. BMC officials had also conducted a survey last year but to no avail.
After the eviction drive, affected shopkeepers, BJP Bhubaneswar district president Babu Singh, party’s spokesperson Dilip Mohanty, State executive member Jagannath Pradhan and corporator Dharitri staged protests at Cuttack-Puri Road near Satya Nagar flyover for over 30 minutes and demanded compensation and rehabilitation. One of the protestors also threatened self-immolation.
“Many shopkeepers have taken loans ranging from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh to set up their business units. There is no update from the authorities on their rehabilitation and compensation,” said BJP leader and Jharpada resident, Jagannath Pradhan.Meanwhile, Bhubaneswar DCP Umashankar Dash said there was no major law and order situation in the area.
BDA Additional Commissioner Harish Nayak, an Additional DCP rank officer, four ACPs, five inspectors, three sections of lady police officers, enforcement squads of BDA and BMC, revenue inspector and General Administration department officials were present during the drive.
The eviction drive was launched days after Bawarchi fast food shop in Ganesh Bazaar was demolished by police and BDA on March 31 as it had encroached upon the government land and the spot had become a den for anti-socials in the area.
Police said Bawarchi fast food shop was run illegally by its owner Sanjeev Mishra over the last several years. Mishra was allegedly part of the pre-poll violence which had broken out between BJD and BJP workers on the intervening night of March 10 and 11 over removal of posters in the area. Mishra is an associate of Ward 33 corporator Dharitri’s husband. He is absconding after the violence.