Bhubaneswar: A high-voltage face-off erupted in Odisha capital on Tuesday during a joint eviction drive as Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and Bhubaneswar Development Authority moved to clear hundreds of temporary transit houses across Phase-1, Phase-2, and Phase-3 in Niladri Vihar area.
Tensions escalated as local women took to the streets, blocking access roads and refusing to abandon their quarters. Desperate residents voiced severe distress with many expressing anguish over being left without alternative shelter and declaring they would rather die than give up their homes.
To prevent the situation from deteriorating, authorities deployed three platoons of police forces alongside personnel from the Nandankanan, Chandrasekharpur, Chandaka, and Infocity police stations to secure the perimeter and escort non-compliant occupiers away from the structures.
The two-day drive targets a total of 890 identified transit shelters in the colony, with approximately 330 structures scheduled for demolition on the first day alone. Operations began in Phase-1 (Lane 1) before extending into Lane 2 and Lane 3. Prior to rolling in bulldozers and heavy excavators, power supply lines across the targeted zones were completely disconnected to prevent electrical hazards during the clearance.
Civic officials maintained that the clearance was necessary to reclaim public land following housing allocations under the Buddha Vihar Housing Project.
According to authorities, a majority of the dwellers had already received permanent housing units under the scheme but failed to vacate their temporary shelters within the stipulated timeframe. Resident, claiming to have been left out of the housing allotment have been asked to submit valid documentation for verification, even as demolition crews and stationed security forces continued levelling the remaining structures.
