BOKARO: Waking up to the rising encroachment of its quarters, the management of Bokaro Steel Limited (BSL) has decided to map its 37,000 residential quarters to verify their legal status.
Only last year, the BSL management recorded that nearly 1,300 of its quarters were illegally occupied. However, the PSU estimates that the number of illegally occupied quarters could be well beyond 3,000.
The encroachers included individuals from various sectors, officials and personnel from the district police, district administration and politicians. In the past, cybercriminals and Maoists were also arrested from these illegally occupied quarters. While attempts to occupy these quarters illegally were occasionally thwarted by the BSL house allotment team, the illegal occupants were removed through eviction drives in most cases.
Rightful residents of these quarters have been expressing their discontent even as BSL incurs significant financial losses on rent and power bills. In response, the chief general manager (CGM) of the BSL town administration, Kundan Kumar, has decided to address the unlawful residency in the BSL quarters.
Recognising the inefficiency of periodic eviction drives, which yield minimal results, the BSL management acknowledges the need for a more comprehensive approach.
To this end, municipal officials, including the CGM and general manager Alok Chawla, plan to initiate a thorough “mapping” of all BSL houses.
“This mapping process entails documenting details like residents’ names, permanent addresses, family members and professions for each quarter, with the involvement of female personnel,” a BSL officer said.
