Even as the land quota row has rocked the State, it is common knowledge that the State Government’s negligence and an unholy nexus between the General Administration (GA) Department and the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) officials helps perpetrate land grab cases within the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation limits.
Sources said the modus operandi of the land grabbers is simple. They encroach upon Government plots of land and then by greasing palms of some corrupt officials of the GA Department get them allotted in their names. For an example, the pot no -829/ 1163 corresponding to khata no -343(Anabadi in Sampur Mouza) belongs to the State Government. One Abhiram Sawaswati alias Abhiram Baba has encroached upon a piece of land out of the same plot and constructed a house over it. Under the Odisha Public Premises (OPP) Act, a case (bearing no 25/03) was initiated against him in the court of the GA Department Estate Officer in which an order was passed on April 8, 2005 to evict the encroacher.
The sources said then the matter relating to the aforesaid encroachment was questioned by a number of MlAs in the State Assembly on December 12, 2004, on March 16, 2005 and on August 8, 2008 and the MlAs asked for a reply from the Chief Minister.The Chief Minister in his reply assured the House that the encroacher would evicted. In spite of this an Amin( now Revenue Inspector) of the GA Department in connivance of the then land officer and Director of Estates allotted the land in the name of Anant Seva Parishad (chief patron Abhiram Baba) suppressing the eviction order of the Estate court.
During the process of allotment, the Amin prepared a sketch map of the land and sent it to the BDA for preparation of drawing (B-1137). Shockingly, information obtained through RTI Act revealed that drawing no- B-1137 relates to Mouza Chandrasekharpur.
Based on various petitions, the Governor has also written to the Special Secretary, GA Department to take action in the matter. But it had no effect. Then some villagers of Sampur met the Chief Secretary on January 12, 2012 and apprised him of the illegal allotment. The Chief Secretary assured of drastic action and called for the file and directed the then Director of Estates to conduct an inquiry. But no inquiry was initiated.
later, as the land was allotted for construction of an Ayurvedic hospital, herbal garden and Yoga centre and the allotee constructed a residential house, mutt and a number of temples violating the lease deed without the approval of the BDA (UAP case no- 307/12 ), the BDA issued eviction orders on June 10,2013 .But it is still to be implemented.
later a PIl was filed in the Odisha High Court by All India Anti Corruption Organisation ( WP © no- 7523) and a notice was issued by the court to the State Government, which is yet to be replied, the sources said.From this the State Government’s seriousness in maintaining transparency in the land allotment process and taking action against the encroachers can be easily gauged, said intellectuals here.The land appropriation cases have been on the rise in the state in the recent times.