A bulldozer demolishes an illegal structure at Sector 10 of CDA Colony in Cuttack. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, July 12: The second phase of eviction drive resumed at Sector 10 of CDA Colony today under heavy police protection.

To facilitate the construction of a major road along Patanala, the eviction drive began last month. It had stopped because of the rath yatra. Now, nine platoons of cops are assisting the authorities in carrying out the eviction.

Adequate security measures were taken today for the eviction drive. On June 12, local residents opposed the drive. Protesting against the eviction, the local residents had then put up a blockade and even pelted stones at the police. Around 50 agitators were taken into preventive custody and subsequently released.

“Elaborate security arrangements were made for today’s eviction, which was carried out uninterrupted. We had also made prior announcements regarding the resumption of work,” said additional deputy commissioner of police Gurudas Kundu.

The target is to demolish over 80 illegal constructions that have cropped up on government land.

Today, over 35 illegal constructions were demolished. Last month, around 65 encroachments were bulldozed during the first phase of the eviction drive.

District administration officials said over 150 encroachments had been marked for demolition, as they had cropped up illegally on government land.

“We had demolished over 80 illegal constructions that had come up on the government land in the first phase of the eviction drive. We have decided to continue eviction for the next two days, in which all the illegal encroachments will be demolished,” said sub-collector J.P. Das.

Official sources said that though there was a proposal to build a road connecting Sati Choura via Petanala with Sector 10 of Markatnagar, it was not possible because of illegal encroachment on the four-km-stretch of government land.