Sambalpur: Even in the festive season, no crowds of worshipers or people on the Burla streets

Medium and Large Traders in the Hope of Settlement

BURLA: Even in the festive season, Burla town in Sambalpur Metropolitan Municipality, has no crowds of worshipers or people on the streets. In previous years, the city would be buzzing weeks before Parban with various attractive offers from cloth shops to mobile, electronic shops to attract customers but this year there are no shops or customers. Shopkeepers expect more business during Dushera Puja.

But after the order of Sambalpur District Collector Ananya Das on 1st August, 479 buildings and shops have been evicted from 11th August till 1st October by Sambalpur Metropolitan Corporation in 8 phases from Gopbandhu Street through Laxmipuja Street to Indira Street, Kaccha Market, Pakka Market to Petrol Pump Street. On October 6th and October 10th, starting from Petrol Pump Street, through Bharti Club Street to Gopbandhu Street, 130 shops were uprooted.

Some of the small and medium traders were affected by the eviction. SMC Commissioner Ved Bhushan had promised to build a vending zone and market complex for small and medium traders, but the opposite was happening at the workplace. Burla was closed on the 13th by the Burla Citizen Action Committee as a protest.

• Request for construction of early vending zone, market complex

In the evening, a meeting was held and a decision was taken to cancel the protest, demanding compensation for the victims and housing for the displaced. Later on Wednesday, a representative team of BJD along with 100 shopkeepers of Burla and Sambalpur met the 5T secretary of the Chief Minister in Bhubaneswar. Sambalpur District BJD Vice President Debasish Nanda has informed that the 5T secretary has promised to stop the eviction until the affected shopkeepers are permanently resettled and has also promised to take necessary steps to improve the roads along with the construction of the vending zone and market complex as soon as possible.