A joint squad of the BDA, BMC and the GA Department on Thursday failed to undertake an eviction drive in the Bharatpur Maa Tarini slum in the city as residents, including Kinnars, vehemently opposed and stand on the way of demolition.
Hundreds of slum dwellers, most of whom are Hijras, gathered as soon as the eviction team reached there with JCB manchines and police force. Nikhila Odisha Kinnar and Third Gender Federation secretary Meghna Sahoo, Menaka Kinnar, Rani Kinnar and Sneha Kinnare led the protest. They asked the team to first evict lands on which the BDA office stands and lands grabbed by the Naveen Niwas and Government officers and leaders.
SP Tapan Patnaik and Odisha Basti Sangharsh Samiti president Pratap Kumar Sahoo held talks with the slum dwellers.
The authorities assured that the families would be rehabilitated before eviction.