Policemen during the eviction drive on the road near the railway station in Balasore on Monday. Telegraph picture

Balasore, Nov. 24: The district administration today launched an eviction drive in order to clear encroachments and facilitate road widening work.

In the first phase, the drive was carried out on the stretch between the railway station and Catholic church.

The road, which belonged to the municipality, has been handed over to the works department for widening and repair work and also strengthening of drainage system.

Chairman of Balasore municipality Alok Sahu said: “The road has been handed over to the works department for widening and repair work.”

Adequate police forces were deployed during the eviction drive. On October 22, the authorities were forced to abandon a similar drive following opposition by local vendors.

“We couldn’t undertake the drive at that time as some of the vendors had obtained stay order from the court,” said the civic body chief.

The road and drains will be repaired at a cost of around Rs 3 crore. Municipality executive officer Subash Jena said: “There are 203 shops between railway station and church via zilla school and 153 business establishments between railway station and station square. Seventy-eight shop owners have obtained stay order from Orissa High Court.”

“We will evict encroachments those who don’t have any stay order from the court,” he said. Binay Mohanty, a magistrate deployed for the drive, said: “The administration gave sufficient time to the shopkeepers and vendors after the last month’s drive.” The works department requires 62 feet road space for the work.