Civic officials demolish an encroachment near KIIT campus in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 5: Several shops and concrete structures were evicted from the road connecting Big Bazaar Square at Patia to Shikharchandi foothill today. A part of the stretch passed through the KIIT University campus.

The Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) removed illegal encroachments on the road as the Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) has decided to develop the stretch as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR). Officials of the Idco said that a major portion of the road was with them and the state government would provide the remaining portion of the land that was with the general administration (GA) department.

In the eviction drive, more than 15 structures, including makeshift shops, were removed. However, many traders opposed the demolition drive claiming legality of their shops. They even flaunted record of rights in which their names were mentioned. “This land belonged to our family and I had set up a shop here. But the BDA officials came today and said that it was an encroachment. I showed them my papers and they assured to look into it,” said Sanatan Mantri, a shopkeeper. However, BDA officials said that under the comprehensive development plan (CDP), the road would become 100ft wide from its present width of 70ft.

“As it was a very narrow road, people took it into their custody. We are working according to the CDP and will stick to it,” said a senior officer accompanying the drive.

However, the eviction team managed to demolish only a few structures as many people staked claim to some of the plots. Though a boundary wall of an apartment was in line for demolition, the authorities refrained from bringing it down as people protested against the move.

“We had to stop the work for the day as some people claimed that the plots belonged to them. But we did remove encroachment from government land. We will survey the area once again before taking the next step,” said Deba Prasad Dash, enforcement officer, BDA. Sources said that if the claims of the locals were found to be true, the authorities would have to acquire the land in accordance with official procedures. Manas Mohanty, a project engineer of Idco, said they would develop the entire stretch from Big Bazaar Square to Shikharchandi once the state government handed over the land that did not belong to them.