Bhubaneswar: Housing and Urban Development Minister Krushna Chandra Mohapatra on Tuesday said that the civic authorities would demolish 191 illegally constructed apartments/buildings in Bhubaneswar. The minister informed this in reply to a question by BJD MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain in the Odisha Legislative Assembly.
According to Mohapatra, 491 cases have been registered against illegally constructed apartments/ buildings under the jurisdiction of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA). Of these, demolition orders have been issued in 191 cases, while 63 cases have been dropped.
As of now, 237 cases are sub-judice.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has also registered 1,444 cases against unauthorised constructions. Of these, 451 cases have already been resolved while 993 cases pending.
Earlier, Bhubaneswar Mayor Sulochana Das had said the BMC would demolish unauthorised apartments in Bhubaneswar if the state government provided compensation in this regard.
Many builders have sold the plots and fled leaving the BMC with limited control over these developments. These constructions were initially under the jurisdiction of panchayats but have now come under the BMC’s control. Numerous natural water bodies have been encroached upon, leading to severe drainage problems in the areas, she said.
