Balasore, Sept. 15: Forest department has evicted all illegal occupants and establishments from Dagara - Chaumukh beach in Baliapal, around 50 km from here.

The eviction drive was carried out by a team headed by the divisional forest officer. The local tehsildar and police also assisted in the operation. The department could free 200 acres from encroachers.

Divisional forest officer Harsh Bardhan Udgata said: "The villagers had illegally occupied the forest land. While some of them grew betel vines, others had set up shops and business establishments."

"Some of them had made temporary as well as permanent constructions for dwelling purpose. Eighteen such structures and huts were pulled down," he said.

On the other hand, the occupants claimed that they had been in possession of the land for a long time and that they would go to court.

Local forest range officer Prafulla Mallick said the encroachers were served notices well in advance before the eviction drive.

"The forest land neither can be occupied by any means and nor used for any non-forest activities," he said.