Berhampur, Sept. 15: A part of a private school building and a few houses were demolished today during a drive to facilitate establishment of the proposed Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER) at Palur Hills on the city outskirts.
On August 1, technical education minister Sanjay Das Burma had announced that the IISER would be set up near Berhampur.
"The state government will give 200 acres of government land free of cost for establishment of the institute. Besides, the government is also committed to provide the transit campus at Berhampur or a nearby area," he had said.
Das Burma said admission to the proposed institute of national repute would start from the 2016-17 session. The institute would operate from the transit campus for three years till the time the permanent one is built.
The district administration has identified two patches of land for the permanent campus of IISER. "I had proposed one plot at Palur Hills and the other at Laudigaon, both under Kanisi tehsil. We are clearing the encroachments to facilitate establishment of the IISER," said Ganjam collector Prem Chandra Chowdhury.
There was some opposition to the eviction drive. Some villagers, led by director of the affected private school K. Premeswar Rao, said that since they had been based their for some years, the administration should have had made some efforts to rehabilitate them before the eviction.
"The district administration issued notices two days ago and demolished the buildings," said Rao, director of S.M. Public School. The school was established in 1995 on government land.
Local sub-collector Nikhil Pavan Kalyan, who was present during the demolition drive, said: "We have not demolished the main building of the school and allowed the authorities two more days to vacate the building. But we have sealed the school and asked the authorities to submit their documents to the district administration."
Sources said two approach roads to the land identified for the IISER that pass through Manikyapur and Bhaliagada villages, would also be cleared of encroachments.
