Bhubaneswar: The General Administration Department had given 68 acres of government land to the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) in Saanpur Mouza with plans to develop the area with an affordable housing project.
Out of the total 68 acres of land, some influential people have managed to secure a stay order from the Orissa High Court on about 10 acres of land and developed illegal structures.
After a visit on Tuesday, the BDA Enforcement Team found out that 95 illegal constructions have been made on more than 10 acres of land out of the 68 acres of BDA land.
After the publication of a news article in Pragativadi on Sunday about BDA toiling hard to reclaim the encroached govt land, the BDA officials on Tuesday inspected the number of illegal constructions done on the land at Saanpur Mouza.
Also Read: Land Mafia Rules The Roost As BDA Toils To Reclaim 10 Acres Of Encroached Land
After finding out that the illegal constructions are flourishing rapidly, the BDA has decided to halt the ongoing constructions.
As a result, a directive has now been issued that BDA to put up signboards and deploy security guards on the said land. This directive has been issued on the instructions of the BDA Secretary.
On the other hand, the officials have prepared a plan on how to remove encroachment on the entire land in the coming days. According to the information received from the BDA Land Officer, all 68 acres of land will be released from encroachment. The BDA will appeal the High Court to lift the stay order from the land.
Later, the entire 68 acres of land will be fenced off. Warning signboards with: “Government Property. Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted”, written on them, in big bold letters, will be put up on the land and a special task force will be formed by BDA to ensure that the land remains free from further encroachment.
It is to be noted that on the 21st of December, Two enforcement squads led by BDA Joint Commissioner Ranjan Kumar Jena visited and inspected the situation after a complaint about BDA land being sold in Saanpur Mouza. On the 27th of December, BDA Additional Land Officer Debaraj Sethi complained to the Economic Offence Wing (EOW).
Despite measures, the land mafia is still building houses on the govt land and construction is going on round-the-clock. While the case is yet to move forward from EOW’s legal cell, BDA is now in a helpless state after failing to stop the encroachment.
