CUTTACK: Intensifying their protest against the decision of the Cuttack administration to construct a slum colony in close proximity to the OSAP 6th Battalion, residents of Chauliaganj on Friday took out a rally and staged dharna at OMP square.
The colony has been proposed to rehabilitate slum dwellers displaced due to the ongoing Taladanda Canal road expansion project. Opposed to the move to house the slum dwellers by demolishing part of the OSAP establishment, the residents have been demanding demarcation of alternative site. Hundreds of residents holding national flags and raising slogans against the district administration took to the streets under the banner of Chauliaganj Nagarika Surakshya Committee and staged a demonstration on the busy thoroughfare disrupting vehicular traffic on Cuttack-Paradip highway and other connecting roads for more than an hour. They attacked the administration over the move to demolish quarters and barracks from the second campus of OSAP 6th Battalion for resettlement of more than 3,000 slum dwellers.
“The Collector didn’t take us into confidence before deciding to rehabilitate the slum dwellers here. Many of the slums have earned the dubious distinction of being hubs of anti-socials. We do not want such a situation here,” said committee secretary Chiranjaya Sahoo.