Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) has wrapped up a large-scale two-day anti-encroachment operation in Shampur mouza under Bharatpur police limits on the outskirts of the city, reclaiming 61.4 acres of prime government land previously occupied by unauthorised structures.
The drive, described by officials as one of the biggest eviction operations undertaken by the BDA in recent years, intensified on the second day with the deployment of 12 JCB machines and heavy machinery to demolish illegal constructions. On the final day alone, 739 houses were razed, bringing the total number of demolished houses to 926. Additionally, around 300 under-construction structures were cleared during the operation.
Around 187 houses, including 31 under-construction ones, were demolished using six excavators, initially clearing about eight acres, on the first day.
According to sources, seven acres of the targeted 68-acre parcel could not be fully reclaimed due to ongoing legal cases. The reclaimed land will be used for future infrastructure and urban development projects in line with Bhubaneswar’s master plan, aimed at promoting orderly and sustainable growth in the capital.
Extensive security measures were in place to maintain order, including around 10 platoons of police personnel along with 50 additional officers deployed at the site.
Prior to the demolitions, the BDA had issued multiple notices to occupants and conducted repeated public announcements via loudspeakers, urging voluntary vacation of the encroached land. The operation was carried out only after exhausting due legal procedures, according to senior BDA officials.
Representatives from the BDA, police, and the GA & PG Department were present throughout the drive, which resumed over two years after the Shampur land scam came to light and a complaint lodged in this connection with the Economic Offences Wing, alleging that organised land mafias had fraudulently sold portions of the government land using forged documents at low prices.
