City rly station expansion: 70 houses demolished at Banafula slum

Continuing its effort to make Bhubaneswar encroachment-free, the joint eviction squad of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), the General Administration Department, the East Coast Railway and the Commissionerate police on Monday demolished 70 houses erected on the ECoR land at Banafula Basti in the Budha Nagar area under the laxmisagar police station.

The demolition drive was conducted to facilitate expansion of the Bhubaneswar railway station. Since the slum dwellers are covered under the Rajiv Awaas Yojna, they would be rehabilitated soon, BMC officials said. Now, they would stay at Patia as an interim measure.