The district administration evicted encroachers from Government land of over 60 acres under Baliapal tahsil to hand over to a local cooperative society to revive its salt manufacturing unit.
Despite protests, the process was completed with the help of police on Thursday. The protesters said that they had undertaken farming on the land taking it under sub lease arrangement.
Some of them lodged FIR against the tehsildar in Singla police station stating they were sub leaseees and the eviction was illegal.
Bolanga Industry Cooperative Society secretary Amulya Kumar Mohanty said, “Around 327 acres of land was given by the Government on lease to the society, yet some unscrupulous elements were doing farming on the land after a salt industry was closed.”
He added revival of the salt unit would generate employment in the area. According to sources, the land in Bolanga under Baliapal tehsil was given to the salt producing society under lease by the State Government in the late 60s. The society was marketing its produce from 1970 to 1996. While the industry collapsed due to several factors, some locals undertook farming on the land.
Baliapal tehsildar Basudev Mohapatra said the encroachers were evicted following the order of the district Collector and the land handed over to the society. Notably, recently, local MP RK Jena too raised the issue in Parliament seeking help for revival of the sick salt industry in Bolanga.
In the first week of March, a four-member team of National Cooperative Development Corporation under the Ministry of Agriculture visited Bolanga in order to revive the salt unit.