5,260 Unauthorised Religious Structures Remain On Public Land In Odisha; Govt Informs HC

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has been informed by the government that there are still 5,260 unauthorised constructions of religious nature on public land in the state.

This information has been given to the HC the state government in an affidavit on the status of unauthorised constructions.

While there were 18,621 unauthorised constructions of religious nature in the state, regularisation was processed in cases of encroachments that did not cause traffic problems, public nuisance or inconvenience. Several structures were also demolished and many were relocated.

Action was taken in the case of only eight unauthorised structures of religious nature in last three months. While four were removed, three were relocated and one was regularized, sources said.

So far, action was taken in the case of 13,361 such constructions. Of them, 10,779 were regularised, 2,016 removed and another 566 were relocated. Now, 5,260 such structures remain to be dealt with and the process is going on, the affidavit said.

It may be noted here that the Supreme Court had on January 31, 2018, directed the states and Union Territories to identify and demolish unauthorised constructions of religious nature which had come up after September 29, 2009. The high courts were expected to supervise the implementation of the order. On February 24, 2020, the Orissa high court had registered a suo motu case on ‘removal of unauthorised religious structures on public land’.

Taking note of the affidavit on Wednesday, the two-judge bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice Gourishankar Satapathy posted the matter to July 13 for hearing and directed the government to file by then an updated report on the status of unauthorised religious structures.

The state government had framed a policy under which committees had been constituted at the district level to deal with such unauthorised structures on public land.