Members of the Central Enforcement Monitoring Committee put up a board on an encroached government land in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Oct. 15: Six squads under the newly formed Central Enforcement Monitoring Committee have identified 55 encroached government plots in and around the city within two weeks.

Officials of the squad are putting up signboards on these plots, where the Bhubaneswar Development Authority will put up boundary walls.

“The notice board declares that it belongs to the state government and trespassers will be punished. We have recovered more than 11 acres of government land in and around the city,” said enforcement officer Debaprasad Dash.

In the past two weeks, the squads have filed two FIRs and police have arrested one person in this connection. Today, the teams put up flex board on four identified land.

The panel was formed following directives by the chief secretary at a high-level meeting on September 30. Earlier, the city management group had carried out the anti-encroachment initiatives. Henceforth, the group will be known as the Central Enforcement Monitoring Committee and its scope of work has also been widened.

The proposed committee’s secretariat will function from the development authority’s office and the vice-chairman will head it. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, general administration department, Odisha State Housing Board and the police are the other important members.

The chief secretary had asked the Khurda district administration to identify at least 10,000 acres of government land so that the reclaimed acres could be given to corporate houses and industrial groups. Sources said that of the six squads, five are scouting for land with corporation area, while another is on the job in the development authority’s area.

Dash said: “The panel will shortly have a helpline number to get inputs from the general public. It will be integrated with the corporation helpline, so that people can give their feedback, suggestions and even file complaints.”

The plot numbers of the original revenue land and those of the developed colonies under the development body and the housing board are different. Therefore, the National Informatics Centre, on behalf of the panel, will integrate the revenue map with those of the comprehensive development plan of the authority area.

“The centre is on the job, and once it is done it will become easier to identify the encroached land,” said an official. “With the existence of a helpline, people can inform the authorities whenever there is an encroachment taking place,” said Unit-VI resident Ashok Sahu. Besides, the panel will also work to execute action plans for eviction of road, drains and unauthorised construction.