Residents stage road blockade near Gundicha temple in Puri demanding right over Lord's land. Picture by Sarat Patra.

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 28: Hundreds of activists under the banner of Bhu Sampati Surakshya, Puri, today staged a road blockade in front of Gundicha temple in the holy town opposing a proposal to evict them.

They demanded rights over the temple land.

The activists burnt tyres and also led a motorcycle rally from the Sri Jagannath Temple to Gundicha temple, a distance of two kilometre.

“Since the times of our forefathers, we have enjoyed rights over the temple land. Everyone in Puri is a sevak of Lord Jagannath. The decision to evict current landholders will affect nearly 80,000 families of Puri,” a protestor said, adding that they were unable to sell their land because of a faulty circular issued by the government in 1992.

“We have been raising this issue for the last seven years. But the Puri district administration is yet to take a positive stand on this,” said Bhu Sampati Surakshya convener Surendranath Das.

He added that a number of people have also brought land from the Puri king and all such land plots also belong to Lord Jagannath.

“If the government evicts us, we will become beggars. We will not allow the government to do this,”Das said.

The association has claimed that people belonging to various political organisations have lent their support to their agitation.

The association also launched a relay hunger strike since December 26.

“We will end the strike after we get a positive feedback from the administration,” said Das.

Though the association members today met Puri collector Fakir Charan Satpathy, the meeting failed to break the impasse.

The collector said that after the endowment law came into existence, the rules regarding Jagannath land have changed. “The issue will be taken up for discussion on January 11,” he said.