BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) authorities on Thursday demolished illegal structures which blocked 200 metre stretch of Drain IV at Jaydev Vihar square.
The eviction drive, which commenced on Wednesday, had to be suspended due to lack of logistics. The demolition work on Thursday began at about 10 am and continued till 2 pm. Two excavators and a chain-mounted JCB machines were roped in to clear the encroachment which were erected in the form of boundary wall.
Two platoons of police ensured smooth progress of the drive, which was jointly conducted by Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), General Administration (GA) Department and the drainage division. A deputy commissioner ranked officer, in-charge of the demolition work, said there was mild resistance from the locals though they were informed about it in advance.
Drain-IV is one of the major drains in the Capital which originates from Ekamra Kanan and passes through Bishnupriya Apartments, Biju Patnaik College square and Jaydev Vihar before discharging into the major drain in Acharya Vihar.
Due to heavy encroachment, the low lying areas on the route traversed by the drain were inundated even after a brief spell of rain every year. BMC was flooded with complaints from residents of these localities in this regard, sources said.