Bhubaneswar: Over two years after the Shampur land scam came to light and a complaint lodged in this connection with the Economic Offences Wing, Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) on Friday resumed its large-scale eviction drive in the area located under Bharatpur police limits on the outskirts of the city, reclaiming eight acres.As many as 187 houses, including 31 structures under construction, were demolished using six excavators on the first day of the anti-encroachment drive. In an unexpected turn of events, officials recovered 72 allegedly hoarded LPG cylinders, including 21 small ones, from one of the houses. The seized cylinders were handed over to the civil supplies department for further verification and action, sources said.Officials said the land forms part of a 68-acre govt parcel that was fraudulently sold by land mafias using forged documents at low prices — an issue that came to light in Dec 2023. The land was transferred to the BDA by the govt for execution of an affordable housing project in 2021.The TOI had reported the land scam and subsequent action by the BDA on Dec 29, 2023.To prevent any law and order issue on the day, around 10 platoons of police force, along with nearly 50 officers, were deployed at the site.The BDA officials said the drive remained peaceful and no untoward incidents were reported.“The eviction was carried out following due legal process. Several notices were issued earlier and public announcements were done, requesting people to vacate the land voluntarily. Once reclaimed, this will be one of the biggest patches of land ever made free from encroachment in the state capital,” a senior BDA official said.Chanchal Rana, BDA vice-chairman, said that the authority would continue the eviction drive until all encroachments on the govt land in the area are cleared. “People occupying the govt land illegally should vacate voluntarily. Planned development of the city is not possible unless such encroachments are removed,” he said.
