SAMBALPUR: Under pressure over the issue of encroachment of Budharaja Reserve Forest (BRF), the Forest Department has decided on a fresh demarcation on March 27. The role of Forest Department has also come under scanner after it issued eviction notices to just six families, though the entire Ramgarh slum has encroached upon the BRF . The land is adjacent to an upcoming hotel.Earlier the Forest Range Officer, Town, SC Khuntia and Forester of Budharaja section Pruthiwiraj Behera denied encroachment by a hotelier. The matter only got murkier with issuance of eviction notice to the six families. Environmentalists and green activists have questioned as to why the Forest Department closed its eyes to encroachment by Ramgarh slum and why only six families are being singled out. While it is widely believed that the six families had been issued notice as it would reflect on the ambience and beauty of the upcoming hotel, Khuntia said eviction notice has been issued to those who have undertaken new construction. But the six families have been living there much before the Ramgarh Slum sprouted in 1970s. Questions are also being raised as to where the run-off water from the hill would flow. Though it was planned to dig trenches all around to store with the purpose of recharging groundwater and harvesting water, the construction of RCC wall by the hotel has left people looking for an answer. While those who have constructed their houses on rayati land along the Budharaja main road are worried that the water will flood their houses in the absence of any drainage system, the Forest Department does not have an answer to it. The BRF is the only patch of greenery in the heart of Sambalpur town. Once spread over 133 acres, the BRF has shrunk to about 75 acres now.
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