Hundreds Of Shops Demolished During Eviction Drive For Road Expansion In Odisha’s Sambalpur

Sambalpur: A massive drive was carried out to evict encroachers from government land to take up road expansion work in Sambalpur city of Odisha on Monday.

According to sources, a team of senior officers and officials of the Sambalpur Municipal Corporation (SMC) along with police force carried out the eviction drive from Jail Chhak up to Dhanupali Police Station Chhak in the city.

During the drive, hundreds of encroachers were evicted from the footpaths and several permanent structures demolished.

The Public Works Department (PWD) had proposed to construct a 22 metre long road in the locality. But the work could not be executed due to the encroachers. SMC officials said the evicted shop owners would be allocated new shops after construction on priority basis.

The encroachers alleged that they were issued notices before eviction, sufficient time was not given to take their belongings out of the structures.