Bhubaneswar, May 14: The development authority and the civic body have carried out an eviction drive near Bomikhal here to ease traffic on the busy Cuttack-Puri highway and free government land from encroachment.

Sources said the authorities had received a number of complaints regarding traffic congestion on the stretch, primarily because of roadside encroachments by traders. Based on the complaints, the authorities conducted the eviction drive.

Officials of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority and the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, along with police, demolished three temporary eateries, one small cabin, one polythene shed as well as three extension sheds of shops encroaching on the highway at Bomikhal.

"This morning, we proceeded to the site with two excavators. Earlier, we had intimated the encroachers to remove their portions. But since they had not complied with it, we had to evict them. We have been able to free about 2,000sqft of government land," said liaison officer of the development authority S.S. Mohanty.

Local resident Sudhir Mohapatra said he along with a few others from Bomikhal, had filed a grievance with the development authority about the encroachments. "Such encroachments had contributed to major traffic woes in this area. This is one of the most busiest roads of the city, and commuters face traffic problem here every now and then," said Mohapatra.

A civic body official said they had conducted a similar eviction drive in January and removed the encroachers from the same area, but they reappeared and got the stretch congested again. "We are not going to tolerate such recurring trouble. This time, we have warned them and are also going to demarcate the area and identify it as government land," said the official.

Besides the encroachment, construction of a railway overbridge has also been a bad experience for commuters, mainly on this part of the highway near Bomikhal.

The state government had, through a gazette notification, formed a central eviction monitoring committee in December last year.

The committee consists of officials of the development authority, civic body, general administration department and the police, who have been endowed with the power to identify squatters and conduct eviction drives without taking any consent of other stakeholders, including the housing and urban development or the home department.

"Earlier, getting permission to take up such eviction drive was a tiresome and lengthy process. After formation of the committee, the job becomes easier since an official in the rank of deputy commissioner can make the requisition for the eviction, which earlier used to be done only by the municipal commissioner or the development authority's vice-chairman," said another official of the civic body.