Eviction In Science Park Basti To End Flooding At Acharya Vihar

Bhubaneswar: A major eviction drive was successfully conducted at
Science Park Basti in Acharya Vihar on Monday despite heavy protest.
A box cell drain has been planned to divert excess water from
Drainage Channel No. 4 here, which causes flooding in the locality.

Zonal Deputy Commissioner (South-East Zone) Binay Kumar Dash led the eviction drive in which squads of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) and Bhubaneswar Smart City BSCL participated with cops deployed by Saheed Nagar Police Station.

During the eviction drive, 15 ACC shed houses and an approximately 100 ft boundary wall were demolished.

The state government on July 18 had approved the BMC Drainage
Division’s proposal for the construction of the box cell drain
connecting Drainage Channel No. 4 under NH-16 till the Regional
Science Centre as the channel inside Acharya Vihar had caused
flood-like situation during heavy rain.

Earlier, the Cuttack drainage division of the Water Resources Department had started the work of the box cell drain for a 577 metre stretch at a cost of over Rs 10 crore. However, as the Water Resources Department later formed a drainage division for Bhubaneswar and more recently a drainage division was added to the BMC engineering wing, the BMC drainage division will now complete the remaining 377 metre of work of the remaining box cell drain. As the box cell drain passes through the Science Park Basti, eviction was necessary. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 5.14 crore, to be borne by the BMC Drainage Division.

Work for the box cell drain started in 2015, for which the eviction
squads of BMC and BDA had carried out eviction in Acharya Vihar in 2014. The work, however, started a little late, only after
shifting the utility services from the path of the box cell drain.

Interestingly, while some residents of Science Park Basti initially
resisted the drive, later they cooperated as they realised that
the eviction would improve drainage in the city and there would be less
water-logging.