Bhubaneswar, Aug 28: Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation has proposed to build boundary walls around 39 government plots to save them from encroachment.

The corporation has given an estimate of Rs 5.56 crore to the state housing and urban development department for the purpose. The civic body has also proposed to build night shelters and parks at some of the plots that have been identified for building walls. The night shelter sites are at Baramunda and Bhimpur and parks have been proposed at Kanan Vihar and Pragyan Vihar. One of these plots in Bomikhal would be used as a burial ground.

Sources in the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) said the municipal council had sent the proposal to the housing and urban development department for approval. On August 7, the department had sought a proposal from the corporation in this regard. The department had sought details of government plots after it found that many of the proposals submitted under various schemes and programmes by various urban local bodies of the state did not include adequate information about the availability of land.

Apart from the BMC, the department also plans to appoint agencies such as the Bhubaneswar Development Authority and the roads and buildings department for the construction of boundary walls around government plots for quick execution of the plan.

The corporation, too, has been suffering because most of the sites identified for its various schemes have been encroached upon. A joint squad comprising officials of the corporation, the Bhubaneswar Development Authority, the general administration department and the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar police that has been carrying out regular eviction drives has had to face stiff resistance from the encroachers in the recent past.

The natural drainage channels in the city are under serious threat because of encroachments.

“This is a good move by the government. In my ward, there is a playground. We are always afraid that someone will encroach on it. But once a boundary wall is built around it, we can be sure that it will remain safe,” said councillor of ward No. 49 Amaresh Jena.

Sources in the general administration department said around 440 acres of government land spread over 47 revenue villages of the BMC and worth more than Rs 1,500 crore are under encroachment. At present, the government is fighting more than 500 encroachment-related cases in various courts.

Municipal commissioner Sanjib Kumar Mishra said the corporation has sent the proposal for approval of the wall project. “Once the government allocates funds and assigns us the job, we will take steps to complete the work at the earliest,” said Mishra.