
CUTTACK: Traders at Station Bazar area on Monday staged an indefinite sit-in protest in front of their shops seeking proper rehabilitation before being evicted for the Cuttack railway station redevelopment project.
The move came in after railway authorities served an ultimatum on Sunday asking the traders to vacate their shops within 50 hours.
Joining the protest, local corporator of ward no 38 Subhasish Patnaik said the shopkeepers are not opposed to the redevelopment project of the Cuttack railway station but seek proper rehabilitation before their establishments are demolished.
“The eviction drive is being carried out without any discussion with the affected traders,” Patnaik alleged. He said the railway authorities had around 1.5 years back stopped renewing the shopkeepers’ rent agreement and issued the eviction notice.
When the traders approached the authorities seeking rehabilitation, the then GM Manoj Sharma and DRM, Khurda Road division Rinkesh Roy suspended the eviction drive besides renewing their contracts. The officers had also identified a site near Tarini temple for their rehabilitation.
Meanwhile, the Sunday order asking traders to vacate within 50 hours without any talks regarding rehabilitation, has sparked discontentment among the affected persons. “This sudden eviction notice by the railway authorities will severely impact the livelihood of all affected shopkeepers,” Patnaik said reiterating on the demand for their rehabilitation.
Efforts to elicit response from the railway authorities on the issue proved futile.