CUTTACK: Barely a month after the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) cleared encroachments from government land for expansion of SCB Medical College and Hospital, the evictees are back in the absence of enforcement.
The road stretching from Ranihat to Station Bazaar via College square has been encroached again by makeshift shopkeepers. The civic body had carried out massive eviction drive in a phased manner for expansion of the campus of premier government-run hospital of the State and removed the encroachments demolishing several slums, club houses, religious structures and makeshift shops from the land in November first week.
However, in the absence of enforcement by police and CMC authorities, the evictees have again encroached upon the land from Ranihat to Station Bazaar. Even some shopkeepers have expanded their shop premises on to the road congesting the traffic on the busy stretch. The encroachers have also set up wooden platforms and put up their products for sale on the road.
Similarly, some slum dwellers who were earlier evicted have started encroaching Ranihat Canal road by selling their bamboo made products. “Some of them have erected bamboo poles and covered with polythene sheet. This is how they start encroaching and with no one to oppose, they then start permanent construction,” said some locals blaming the civic authorities for poor enforcement activities.
Enforcement Officer of CMC Abinash Rout said, “We had asked the local police to keep a tab on the encroachers after carrying out the eviction drive and clearing the road. We will inform the police to carry out enforcement against the encroachers within a day or two,” said Rout.