Cuttack: The municipal corporation will intensify its eviction drive against roadside encroachments to ease traffic congestion across the city.

Cuttack municipal commissioner Bikash Ranjan Mohapatra said on Saturday the eviction operations from now would be taken up twice a week. "The move is aimed at clearing encroachments by the vendors and squatters on roadsides," Mohapatra said.

Mohapatra said the drive would be intensified with the help of a joint squad, including police. The drive had stopped for nearly four months since Dussehra followed by the Kali Puja, Kartika Puja and then the Bali yatra.

"The drive will be resumed shortly, and would be conducted twice a week," Mohapatra said.

A source said the drive was planned in pursuance of a decision by the traffic management committee. Assistant commissioner of police (traffic), Pradeep Kumar Dalai, said: "The management committee in its last monthly meeting on January 31 had decided that Cuttack Municipal Corporation should conduct the eviction drive twice a week to check encroachment."

"The decision aims to regulate and ensure ease of traffic at major roads," Dalai said.