Eviction drive at Niladri Bihar. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, April 4: The district administration has removed encroachments from 15 acres in Ambapua, New Mango Market and Old Berhampur, university area, during an eviction drive last week.

“The public works department (PWD) has taken possession of these lands,” said Shatrughna Kar, tehsildar, Berhampur. The eviction squad is now concentrating in Niladri Bihar 4th Lane under Haridakhandi RI circle.

“We evicted 40 families who were residing on government land. They were from outside Berhampur and were staying in Niladri Bihar 4th Lane. There was a pond earlier and temporary houses had come up at the behest of local touts. We have recovered the land and PWD has been asked to erect a boundary wall around the plot,” he said.

“Unscrupulous elements are trying to grab the precious government lands in the Silk City with the help of local touts and we are preventing them under the Protection of Government Land Act,” the tehsildar said.

Sub-divisional police officer, Berhampur, Sarat Mahapatra said elaborate security measures were taken to maintain law and order during the anti-encroachment drive at Niladri Bihar.

“Three platoons of police force were deployed there to maintain law and order. The anti-encroachment drive ended peacefully,” said Mahapatra.

A number of families who had encroached upon the land in the area said that the administration cannot displace them without providing another accommodation. “We had submitted a memorandum to the authority in this regard,” said some of the families.

Manoj Patnaik, an advocate, said because of lack of comprehensive master plan, colonies in the Silk City are mushrooming haphazardly causing problems related to traffic, water supply and construction.

“The Berhampur Development Authority organised a workshop in 2009 and explained to us the highlights of the comprehensive development plan for the city. But nothing has been done so far. It is unfortunate that the city, a major trading and cultural centre, had its last master plan in 1969. Forty-three years later, we still continue to rely on that master plan for the development of the city,” he said.