SCB Expansion: Second Phase Eviction Drive Begins Amid Protests In Cuttack

Cuttack: The district administration in association with the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) on Wednesday resumed eviction drive in the city amid protest by the roadside vendors.

All roadside shops along the Taladanda Canal road and from Matru Bhawan Chhak to Chhatara Bazar bridge will be evicted SCB Medical Colleges expansion project.

The local traders said though the administration had not informed them in advance about the eviction drive in their area and they are not against it, the authorities must offer an alternative source of livelihood.

“We welcome the eviction drive as the Odisha government has decided to make the SCB Medical College and Hospital a world-class healthcare centre. But we demand that the administration must rehabilitate us immediately to sustain our livelihoods,” they added.

Some traders pointed out that prior to the eviction drive in January, the district administration had rehabilitated the slum-dwellers and provided them Rs 50,000 as financial assistance. “But this time, the administration instead of rehabilitating us, has demolished our business establishments. What will we do now? Where will we go? We do not demand financial compensation. But the administration must rehabilitate us immediately,” they said.

A senior official of the CMC said the eviction driver is going on smoothly with the cooperation of the Chhatara Bazaar Committee.

On the rehabilitation of the displaced traders, he said the administration has identified a location for them to run their business immediately. “The administration has no intention to harass the local traders and it will do the needful at the earliest,” he informed.