Balasore, Nov. 23: The Balasore district administration is planning to make the roads of the district headquarters town free from encroachments to facilitate smooth flow of traffic.

The month-long drive that began today has been undertaken by the administration with the help of the municipal authorities.

“In the first phase we are clearing the main roads of the town. We are removing encroachments on parking lots and extensions of permanent business counters,” said district collector Akhil Bihari Ota.

“The measure has been taken as the administration felt it was high time that encroachment was dealt with. Representatives of several civil societies too have drawn our attention to the problem,” he said.

Encroachments and unauthorised settlements have come up at prime pockets in the town and the administration has sought help from local councillors to address the problem.

“We want to keep the roads free from encroachment. The roads connecting Fandi Square and Town police station, Cinema Square and Fire Station and FM College will be freed from encroachment in the first phase,” said local tehsildar Pinaki Patnaik.

“We have already warned the roadside vendors and asked them to move out, failing which they will face eviction after one month,” he said.

Encroachments are not only causing traffic congestion, but also choking drains. Several parts of the town experienced waterlogging as clogged drains overflowed this monsoon.

“We have cleared encroachments from some pockets in the past. But they have come up once again. We will take up the eviction drive again,” said executive officer of Balasore Municipality Sudhanshu Nayak.

“We are not able to clear clogged drains because of encroachments. It is also difficult to expand civic facilities in an orderly manner or beautify the town,” Nayak added.

Busy locations such as Station Square, Fandi Square, Police Line Square, Cinema Square and the road near the district collector’s office and their approach roads have been witnessing encroachments.

Several local organisations, including the Senior Citizen Forum, have been expressing concern over encroachments and demanding eviction.

“The encroachments are a serious problem for Balasore town. While on the one hand the number of vehicles is increasing, on the other encroachment is leading to shrinking of road space. As a result citizens of Balasore town are suffering from traffic inconvenience and also meeting with accidents,” said Laxmidhar Behera , a member of Senior Citizen Forum.