The Athmallik Block administration has constructed a road on record land of a poor man unlawfully in Basudevpur Panchayat. The victim has complained about it at various levels, including at the CMO, but in vain.
According to the reports, a patch of land under Khata No. 04, Plot No. 61 of Goutampur Mauja belongs to one Laxman Giri as per the records in the Athmallik Tehsil. He alleged that the Block administration has forcefully constructed a concrete road in the land without his prior consent.
Notably, while Athmallik MLA Ramesh Chandra Sai visited Goutampur village, the people appealed to him to construct a proper road to Ghodagadi Shiva Temple. Sai had sanctioned Rs 10 lakh from the 5th State Finance Commission for construction of a road from the Goutampur Chawk to the Ghodagadi Shiva Temple.
The Shiva temple was built during the royal dynasty in Athmallik but there is no well-built road to the temple till now. As the State Government is working on improvement of many temples, the MLA sanctioned money for a road for the Ghodagadi Shiva temple. But the BDO, Athmallik without constructing the road proposed for construction of another road, to the Collector, Angul, after lobbying by some influential group. The Collector gave permission to construct a road at the new location. Due to this, the hope of the people for a road to Ghodagadi Shiva temple was dashed.
On the other hand, the road proposed by the BDO comes in the land of a record holder. Meanwhile, without taking permission from Giri, the road was constructed. Giri has warned to take legal recourse against the forceful land grab by the administration.