Aerial view of Sambalpur. Telegraph picture

Sambalpur, June 3: District collector Balwant Singh has instructed the administration officials to begin a drive to identify revenue and municipal land within one month.

A source in the administration said more than 280 acres of revenue land and 87 acres of municipality land were encroached upon by various persons and establishments.

Singh said: “We have instructed officials of the revenue department and the municipality to identify the encroached land. Both the agencies have been asked to submit detailed reports in this regard.”

The officials have also been asked to submit video recordings of the encroached land of the city. After the identification, the district administration will initiate further action to retrieve the land.

Singh also said that the district administration would not allow any further encroachment of the government or municipal land in the city.

“Encroachment has become a hindrance to the development of the city. Government land in the city is reducing day by day because of encroachment. Even city roads have become narrow at several places, contributing to traffic congestion. So, the district administration should not only restrict itself to identification of encroached government land, it should also take initiative to evict encroachers,” said Yagyan Narayana Pradhan, a city resident.

“The city drains are also not free from encroachment. Major drains have become narrower at several places because of encroachment,” said Pradhan.

Another resident, Narendra Purohit said: “The city has an acute paucity of government land. Several development and beautification could not be started because of this reason. The city does not have adequate playgrounds and parks either.”