Residents of Bhimpur mouza here have alleged that the Biju Patnaik International Airport authorities are going ahead with their plan to encroach upon an18-feet-wide road meant for public use from the VIP Road to Kanjiagada in order to construct the airport’s compound wall.
The residents have urged the local MlA and Minister Ashok Panda to intervene into the airport authorities’ ‘forcible’ encroachment of land meant for public use.
While the Odisha High Court had recently directed the airport authorities to consider the grievance of the locals in this regard within three months, the contractor entrusted with the work has gone ahead with the construction activities. Construction of the compound wall is arbitrary, forceful and violative of the State Government plan, they told Panda in a petition.
The General Administration Department had on August 18, 2006 alienated 1.506 acre revenue land to the Airport Authority of India. In lieu of that, the AAI was asked to surrender an equal patch of land on which a 30-foot-wide public road was to be constructed from Kanjiagada to the VIP Road.
Of this, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has recently completed 12-foot-wide road on resident area side and left the rest 18-foot-wide vacant on the airport side. The AAI, the petition said, is allegedly encroaching upon this stretch of land (18 feet) for construction of the boundary wall.
Earlier last month, the locals had approached the Orissa High Court on the matter. In its order on May 28, the High Court did not express any opinion on the merits of the case and disposed of the case by directing the Director, Biju Patnaik International Airport to consider the grievance of the petitioner within three months.
locals also submitted representation to the Airport Director requesting him to look into the issue. “We are yet to get any communication from the Director,” said Gyanendra Kumar Tripathy, a resident of Bhimpur.