An Omfed booth on Unit 8 main road near DAV School chowk. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 28: Sixty booths belonging to Omfed and Opolfed at prime locations here are under scanner of the central enforcement monitoring committee for obstructing traffic.

Deputy commissioner (projects and public relation) of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation Srimanta Mishra said: “Locations of Odisha State Co-operative Milk Producers’ Federation (Omfed) and the Odisha State Poultry Products Co-operative Marketing Federation (Opolfed) booths had earlier been decided. But, roads are expanding now. Therefore, in the process, if there is an eviction demand, we are shifting the booths.”

Mishra said there was a list of 60 such booths, which might face the axe.

A joint survey by the panel, consisting of officials of the corporation, Bhubaneswar Development Authority, general administration department, police and the public works department, has found that the locations of many booths of Omfed and the Opolfed are causing traffic problem.

The issue came to the fore when traders and vendors had protested against the panel’s eviction drive near Unit-VIII DAV Public School a month ago. The squad demolished many shops, but an Omfed booth was spared. The traders manhandled a general administration department’s official on the ground as to why the Omfed booth was spared when their shops had been demolished for road expansion. An official said that without allocating a new space the Omfed stall could not be shifted.

The location of the booths have spurred traffic congestion at Kalpana Square, CRP Square, near Museum Square, opposite Bhubaneswar court, Lewis Road, Station Square, near Congress Bhavan and near the Ramadevi Women’s College. Many booths are occupying more space than what is allocated to them. While 100sqft is allocated for an Omfed booth, 120sqft is the size of an Opolfed kiosk.

The authorities had in the past allotted 550 Omfed booths, 67 Opolfed booths, 50 public call offices (PCO) and Kusum flower shops. Now, the general administration department is deciding on the locations as the government land has become scarce across the city. The civic body is forwarding applications for the booths to the general administration department.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said: “When the works department engineers will give us requisition, we will go for the eviction drive irrespective of the shop owners and allocation. However, we always have to see the legal side before taking any step.”

Representative of the Omfed-Opolfed-PCO Owners’ Joint Action Committee Ashok Nayak told The Telegraph: “We have no issue with booth-shifting provided an alternative location is allotted. In the case of the kiosk near the DAV School, eviction was initiated without providing an alternative location.”

Nayak also said the committee had also taken a decision in the past to help the civic authorities, so that the development works were not affected. “A year ago during expansion of Rupali Square, the mayor had requested us to shift an Omfed booth despite a court order in the owner’s favour. As the city’s requirement was our prime concern, we had convinced the owner to shift it,” he said.

He, however, said there would be no issue if the authorities were taking action against the violators.

Traffic inspector Surendra Kumar Bal said: “The civic authorities will decide on the Omfed, Opolfed, PCO and the Kusum booths, and we will provide support in ensuring a smooth traffic flow across the city.”