The Budharaja hill, a place of scenic beauty, where a beautiful temple is found, is a place of tourist attraction in the district headquarters town.
A recently constructed road to the hill makes it accessible. Further, it is learnt that lots of things are on cards for improvement of the place, including construction of a ropeway from hill top. The hill is historically important as it is connected with the freedom struggle of Veer Surendra Sai.
But encroachment at the foot of the hill has caused worry for the administration. Earlier, many attempts had been made to evict the encroachers with the sole aim to save the hill and its dense forest cover. But they failed to yield desired results as the encroachers got support of local politicians. The hill spreads over 126 acres of land with dense vegetation.
However, recently, coming under virulent criticism for their failure to keep the hill encroachment-free, the Forest department, the municipality authority and the police have initiated a process for eviction of the unauthorised buildings and occupation of land. Not only some people after occupying land are staying there, but many of them have also rented out their houses, it is learnt.
“We have asked the residents of the area to submit information in detail about their water, electricity and telephone connections, possession of voter identity cards and the Government benefits they are getting. We have also asked them to mention the year since when they have been staying in the area,” said Sambalpur ACF Mangovind Dalai.
Meanwhile, Budharaja Ban Sanrakharan Samity president Rusi Patra urged the administration to take appropriate action to save the hill and its forest cover.