Eviction drive at Bajrakabati Road in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, June 20: Cuttack Municipal Corporation will extend its eviction drive to every part of the city to decongest major roads that are struggling to accommodate rising numbers of vehicles.

Illegal squatters along Ring Road, particularly near Sai temple, would be evicted during the second phase of the eviction drive that resumed today after a gap, said a CMC official.

“Illegal encroachments on roads are creating hurdles for smooth flow of traffic in the city. The ongoing eviction drive to decongest major roads would soon be extended to other parts of the city as well,” said CMC secretary Ashutosh Samal.

Samal further said roadside encroachments near Sai temple were obstructing traffic flow. There were plans to evict all illegal roadside structures by this week.

Efforts were also being undertaken to ensure that the places, which have already been evicted, are not encroached again. Hence, the entire stretch of busy Bajrakabati Road was evicted again under a special plan today.

Beside roadside vendors and small kiosks, illegal constructions by other commercial establishments were also demolished amidst tight security.

The entire stretch of road from Bajrakabati up to Khannagar was evicted in the first phase of the eviction drive that was launched by CMC in collaboration with the city police on June 8.

Similarly, eviction drive was also launched at Buxi Bazar, while illegal encroachments up to Choudhry Bazar were also evicted recently.

Despite this, all evicted places were being encroached again. Officials said only a regular drive could put a check on encroachments as a number of shops that were demolished in the first phase had again set up their establishments at the same place.

“Our effort is to make the roads free from encroachment so that traffic flow is streamlined in the city. Besides, we are also initiating steps to see that the evicted places are not encroached again,” said deputy commissioner of police Praveen Kumar.