BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday stopped construction of ‘Urban Majestic Apartment’ project in Patia over alleged illegal conversion of industrial lease land to homestead.
The move came after the government recently ordered the Khurda collector to probe into the allegation and submit a report to the Revenue department.
Basing on a letter from the General Administration department, BMC commissioner Rajesh Prabhakar Patil ordered to stop construction of the apartment. Due to the alleged illegal conversion of the land kisam, the commissioner also instructed the planning section of BMC to cancel the building plan approval till further decision by the competent authority.
“A disputed land cannot be allowed for construction activities after it comes to the notice of the municipal corporation,” said Patil.
He further said any disobedience to the letter issued to the real estate company will be viewed seriously and BMC would seal the venue and deploy enforcement squad if the situation demanded.
BMC officials said the building plan permission for construction of the multi-storey apartment was issued in favour of M/s Paltronics Allied Industries Pvt Ltd in February 2024. The construction of the project was being carried out on five acre of land. Six apartment blocks were under construction.
Meanwhile, the Bhubaneswar tehsildar has been directed by the General Administration department to rectify the record of rights of the disputed land.
A few weeks back, the Revenue and Disaster Management department, in a letter to the Khurda collector, had pointed out that the five acre plot in Patia Mouza, leased out for 99 years in 1979 for industrial purposes, was converted to Gharabari kisam in 2022.