Bhubaneswar: Stepping up its crackdown on illegal constructions, the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) razed a three-storey building, which was operating as a coaching centre, in the upscale Forest Park area here.
Several other unauthorised structures, including 5 bathrooms/toilets, 2 water tank and a 250 feet of boundary wall, which had come up on government land, were pulled down during the two-day eviction drive which concluded on Tuesday. One platoon of police from Airfield police station was deployed to ensure law and order.
These structures, including the coaching centre, had been built on land belonging to the General Administration Department. The drive was carried out following a formal request from the department’s Deputy Director (Survey and Enforcement).
“BDA had issued advance eviction notices to the coaching centre owners and made public announcements asking others to vacate. The entire operation remained largely peaceful,” Officer on Special Duty (Enforcement), BDA, Debraj Sethi was quoted as saying.
The BDA has intensified its anti-encroachment campaign across the city, focusing on large permanent illegal structures in prime areas.
A similar drive was also conducted in the posh Nayapalli locality during which encroachments were removed from around 5,000 sq ft government land. Six houses, six bathrooms, a half-built brick wall, and a portion of a boundary wall were razed.
In Pandra too, BDA squads carried out a two-day operation, reclaiming over 1.3 acres of government land.
