Civic officials demolish encroachments at Acharya Vihar in Bhubaneswar on Saturday. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, May 24: The city administration today demolished encroachments in 23 revenue plots at Acharya Vihar to facilitate diversion of drainage channel No. 4, which causes flood every year during monsoon.

On March 12, Orissa High Court vacated a stay order on the diversion of the channel. The case had been pending since 2006.

However, the demolition could not start immediately after the court order because the model code of conduct for the general election had been in force.

The diversion of the drainage channel was necessary as its existing passage through Acharya Vihar was very narrow, and the cement pipe was not big enough to discharge rainwater coming from Jayadev Vihar and Nayapalli during rains.

The cost of the channel’s diversion will be borne from a Rs 28.79-crore grant, which was received through the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

Nine of the 10 natural drainage channels in the city will be renovated by the JNNURM funds granted in 2011.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, Bhubaneswar Development Authority, general administration department and the drainage division carried out today’s joint eviction drive. Police deployed armed forces to maintain law and order during the drive. Two excavators were engaged for the job.

Executive engineer of the Cuttack drainage division Pradip Duria, who is in charge of the renovation of channels I, II, III and IV, said: “We will use the new 750m-long drain to facilitate the passage of extra rainwater coming from Nayapalli and Jayadev Vihar. The average width will be 5 metres.”

The diverted drainage channel will be fully covered, sources said.

“We will finish all preparatory works such as excavation and removal of electric poles at the earliest,” Duria said.

After the vacation of the high court stay order, members of the Acharya Vihar Parishad had requested the grievance redress cell of the corporation to start work on the channel diversion.

Parishad secretary Bhagabat Prasad Das said: “We are happy that the city administration is working on the project.”

The Telegraph had published a series of stories on the drainage problems at Acharya Vihar.

Drainage channel No. 4 originates from Ekamrakanan at Jayadev Vihar and ends at Chakeisiani, where it meets the Gangua Nullah. It passes by Ekamra Villa, Jayadev Vihar, Mayfair Hotel, Acharya Vihar, Regional Science Centre, Unit-IX Flat area, Vani Vihar, VSS Nagar, Mancheswar and Chakeisiani.