Bhubaneswar: As many as 330 transit houses – temporary shelters built for slum-dwellers before they are allotted permanent homes – were demolished in a joint drive by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) on Tuesday.BDA officials said residents in the transit houses had long overstayed and despite being allotted homes at permanent colonies, many of them continued to occupy the temporary shelters. Some had even rented them out or allowed relatives to stay, defying repeated warnings from the authorities. “The slum residents were allotted houses under Nilamadhab Awas Yojana,” BDA’s additional commissioner Ranjan Kumar Jena said.The eviction and relocation was carried out with coordination of enforcement squads, ward officers, community organisers, sanitary inspectors and the police. “All belongings of relocated slum-dwellers were transported to their permanent houses,” Jena added.According to BDA officials, resistance was strong in several pockets. Some residents refused to vacate despite repeated requests, forcing police to intervene. Officers reportedly had to pull people out and put their belongings into vehicles for transportation to the allotted colonies.BMC’s additional commissioner Kailash Chandra Dash said that misuse of the transit homes had become rampant. “Transit homes are meant only as a stopgap arrangement before permanent housing is ready. They were being encroached upon. We had to deploy a police force as residents were staying illegally. All beneficiaries have already been allotted permanent houses. It is not that they are homeless. Even during eviction, we provided logistics for smooth shifting,” he added.The operation, officials said, is far from over. “The exercise will continue on Wednesday as well, as there are still around 200 transit homes that need to be vacated,” Dash said.
