Bhubaneswar: Coming down heavily on the Odisha government over the Ekamrakanan land issue, the opposition parties today accused the State government of trying to destroy the forest areas in the Capital city for commercial purpose.
Both the BJP and the Congress raised questions over the modus operandi of the government behind asking the Assistant Director of Horticulture, Ekamrakanan to surrender around 20 acres of land to the State General Administration (GA) department out of its 25 acres of land.
The State Directorate of Horticulture, Krushi Bhawan, recently wrote a letter to the Assistant Director of Horticulture, Ekamrakanan and directed him to surrender the land. “It is to intimate that a decision has been taken by the Govt. for surrender of Ac 20.192 dec from Ekamrakanan farm to GA & PG Department excepting an area of AC 5.775 dec where there are buildings,” read the official letter. (sic)
Addressing a presser on Tuesday, Congress MLA Sura Routray slammed the move of the State government and said that Congress will not let the government win in its 'conspiracy' to destroy the park. The letter of the State Directorate of Horticulture, Krushi Bhawan, to the Assistant Director of Horticulture, Ekamrakanan to handover the land to the GA department must be withdrawn, he said.
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Routray alleged that the State government has not taken any measures to develop the farm in the last 20 years. The Congress MLA had earlier warned a massive protest against the government and said that instead of building commercial establishment, the Odisha government should rather carry out beautification works in the Ekamrakanan park.
State BJP general secretary, Prithviraj Harichandan also came down heavily on the State government and asked the reason behind the State government's direction to surrender the 20 acres land of Ekamrakanan. The government should answer as to why it wants to destroy the forest area to build apartments, he said.
Responding to the allegations, BJD MLA Amar Satpathy said that the government's decisions are always backed by sound reasons and the opposition parties should have some patience.
Read More: Ekamrakanan Land Row: Congress Warns Odisha Govt Of Massive Protest