Bhubaneswar: In the strongest action yet in Odisha’s’s long-running battle against illegal land grabbing, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari on Thursday gave a stern ultimatum to encroachers – vacate government land immediately or face forced eviction and foot the entire bill for the operation.
Speaking at a high-level departmental review meeting, continuing the aggressive anti-encroachment stance the BJP government has maintained since coming to power, Pujari made it clear that the window for voluntary surrender is closing fast. “Many influential people have encroached upon government lands across the state. There is still time for those occupying government land illegally to return it on their own. If they don’t, not only will they be evicted, but also the full cost of removal of structures and clearing the land will be recovered from them,” the Minister warned.
To ensure transparency and accountability, the Revenue Department has asked the Tehsildars to urgently compile a comprehensive digital database of encroached government land, including industrial plots, revenue land, Gochar (grazing) land, forest-adjacent areas, and other public properties currently under illegal occupation.
“We need an accurate, tehsil-wise picture of every decimal of government land that has been grabbed,” Pujari noted, while reaffirming the state government’s commitment to provide 4 decimals of land to all landless people in Odisha.
However, he categorically ruled out any leniency for influential individuals, land mafias, or politically connected persons who have illegally occupied large tracts for commercial or personal profit. “Those who try to obstruct officials from measuring land or carrying out eviction drives will face immediate and stringent action. No one is above the law,” Pujari asserted.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had recently told the Assembly that 500.156 acre of government land have been illegally occupied in prime localities of Bhubaneswar, including Bapuji Nagar, Ashok Nagar, Kharvel Nagar, Satya Nagar, Sahid Nagar, Ganga Nagar, Surya Nagar, Bomikhal, Jharapada, Jayadev Vihar, Chandrasekharpur and Patia.
