After Cuttack, pulling down of temples on Government lands began at Sambalpur on Friday. In the first phase, the demolition drive was launched on the NH-55 with a Kali temple being razed to ground at Panchgochhia under the Ainthapali police station.
It may be mentioned that four-laning of the NH-55 from Sambalpur to Bargarh is now going on in full swing, for which the demolition drive is needed. While roadside encroachers have removed their construction on notice, the administration has the task of pulling down the temples.
After dismantling the small Kali temple at Panchgochhia, the demolition squad proceeded to a Durga temple at the Remed Chowk.
But the local residents protested the move vehemently claiming that the temple is not on NH land and demanded a fresh demarcation of the land.
In view of the controversy, the district administration stopped the demolition move to wait for the result of the demarcation. But it was further learnt that the residents of Remed are planning to shift the Durga idol to some other convenient place.
Five platoons of police forces were deployed for the demolition drive. Sub-Collector Rainu Singh and many other senior revenue and police officers were present. The demolition drive would continue on Saturday as per the instruction of the Revenue Department, official sources informed.