District administration officials inspect the site where the fence was being built, in Motihari on Wednesday. Picture by Ajit Kumar Verma

The district administration razed a fence meant for safety of the Prasar Bharati office in the town on Wednesday.

District Rural Development Authority director Umashankar Ram stopped construction of the fence near the relay centre of Prasar Bharati and ordered demolition of the wall. Sadar sub-divisional officer Radha Kant was also present during the demolition drive.

East Champaran district magistrate Abhijit Sinha said: “Since the land is owned by the state government, the Prasar Bharati officials are not entitled to erect any permanent construction over the land.”

He added: “Moreover, the office has to be shifted to a safer place because of the dilapidated condition of the building and the district administration is thinking about it seriously.”

According to Prasar Bharati sources, the district officials could not show any written prohibitory order issued either by them or by any of their superiors against construction of the barbed wire fencing.

The fence was required for the safety of the place, which falls within the purview of a “protected area” under the central government.

The office of the Prasar Bharati was constructed in 1989 here and a wall was built a few days later.

The wall was demolished in 2010 to make way for a wider road to link the office of the superintendent of police and the collectorate, the sources said.

A letter was received recently from the Calcutta zonal office of Prasar Bharati as well as from the office of deputy director, Doordarshan, Patna, regarding re-construction of the wall near the relay centre.

The local office of the Prasar Bharati and the district administration was informed about the re-construction of the wall.

Following that, Umashankar Ram and Radha Kant had paid a visit to the site on Tuesday, said officials of the Prasar Bharati present there.

Assistant engineer Sanjay Kumar Verma, posted with the relay centre of the Prasar Bharati (maintenance division), told The Telegraph: “The construction of the fence, using barbed wires, was part of a temporary arrangement and it was taken up after getting direction from the department heads of Prasar Bharati and after due consultation with the district administration. We are expected to make the department heads aware with the day-to-day developments.”

Another official of the Prasar Bharati said: “The fence was a necessity for want of required safety of this protected area, as the existing fencing was removed at the time of construction of the new road. However, the district administration has the liberty to remove any construction whenever it wishes after making alternative arrangements for the proper security of the central government organisation, which is always based in a protected area.”