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After temple razing, eviction drive for JICA in Cuttack

Wednesday, 22 May 2013 00:00 administrator
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The Pioneer               22.05.2013

After temple razing, eviction drive for JICA in Cuttack

Even as the administration took a day’s break from its ongoing temple demolition drive on Tuesday, another eviction drive was, however, launched in the city on the day. It was the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) which took the opportunity to run the bulldozers on illegal constructions like slums, roadside shops and kiosks that had come up along the main drains. The civic body authorities also demolished a temple on the day as part of its drive.

“We removed all the illegal constructions along the main drain stretching from Matrubhawan to Mattagajpur as this drain will be refurbished for the ambitious JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency project,” said CMC Secretary Laxmidhar Nath. At least three slums, scores of roadside shops and a Shiva temple were pulled down as these structures had come up encroaching upon the Government lands.

Anticipating public protest and law and order situation, the civic body authorities had also requisitioned the services of police for the day’s purpose. At least five platoons of police were deployed at the eviction site and reports said no untoward incident took place.

Slum-dwellers, however, complained that they were not previously informed about the eviction drive for which they faced hardship in removing their properties from their shanties in the hot summer days.

“We requested the authorities to give us at least 24 hours’ time to remove our belongings to safer place but the authorities did not pay heed to our pleas,” said a slum-dweller, who claimed to have settled down at the place for more than 20 years.

The Rs 757.44-crore JICA project envisages construction of a separate drainage and sewerage system in the city with the help of technical knowhow from the USA, Japan and France.

At least 30 km of the existing main storm drains of the city would be renovated under the project.

Similarly, new sewerage facilities of 230 km of underground gravity sewers and several pumping stations with two sewage treatment plants at Bidanasi and Mattagajpur are parts of this much-awaited JICA project.