BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) demolished a slum settlement in Chandrasekharpur and freed around two acres of government land on Tuesday.
Officials said 125 families from the slum, Saraswati Basti, were relocated to an affordable housing project in the area.
The BDA razed 350 asbestos rooms and three shops during the drive carried out with Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).
“The demolition was done peacefully without police protection since the slum dwellers had already shifted to their new homes,” BDA liaison officer Subhranshu Mohanty said.
“BDA enforcement squad demolished transit houses where slum dwellers were residing before moving to the housing project. The land is now available for developmental projects,” Mohanty said.
Last November, chief minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the housing project with 820 ready-to-move tenements of which BDA has allotted 303 till date. Eligible beneficiaries have got units for a nominal payment of Rs 1.5 lakh. Once complete, the entire housing project, being executed in public private partnership mode, will have 2,600 units. “The project is being executed for the poor. Houses are being provided to those affected by, or evicted due to, different developmental projects of the state government,” a senior BDA official said.
