A bulldozer demolishes an illegal construction in Balasore. Telegraph picture

Balasore, June 24: The local municipal authorities have undertaken an eviction drive along an important road, which connects the town with various educational institutions, the DRDO test centre and Chandipur sea beach, for its expansion.

The eviction drive was also necessary for repair and restoration of the 2.8km road, which is lying in a dilapidated condition.

Balasore Municipality chairman Alok Das said: “We had decided to remove the encroachments since the works department has asked us to make it encroachment free road before it starts repair works. We have been carrying out the eviction drive with the help of local magistrate and police. Renovation and expansion of the road is expected to be complete before October.”

Executive officer of the municipality Subash Jena said: “The work included widening of the road and restoration of drains. The road was encroached upon at 37 points, which are being removed with the support of the local people.”

Commuters using the road had to face a tough time as the road continued to remain narrow and unsafe because of lack of expansion and maintenance. There was a tug of war between the municipality and defence authorities for the last six years on who would carry out repair and restoration on the road.

The residents of the town took out several rallies in the past to demand repair and expansion of the road.

The defence ministry, which had been using the road for movement of its heavy vehicles, used to carry out minor repair works. However, it was reluctant to take up the responsibility of a major renovation and expansion work of the road.

After a lot of deliberations at the council meetings of the municipality, the road was handed over to the works department.

An estimate of about Rs 4.8 crore was prepared for its repair and expansion.