Bhubaneswar slum dwellers march towards Assembly, stopped mid-way

Bhubaneswar, Nov 22 (PTI) Residents Salia Sahi, the largest slum of the Odisha capital Bhubaneswar, on Wednesday marched towards the Assembly to press their demand for land rights from the state government. Holding banners and posters, hundreds of slum dwellers took out a rally from Salia Sahi towards the Assembly. The police said the agitators were stopped midway near Biju Patnaik College and detained them as they did not have permission to hold the procession.

The slum dwellers are demanding land patta from the state government under its Jaga Mission. They also demand conversion of forest land on which the slum was built to revenue land.

Jaga Mission aims at transforming slums into liveable habitats with all civic infrastructure and services at par with the better-off areas within the same urban local body.

'Though all slums of Odisha have been covered under the Jaga Mission, Salia Sahi has been excluded. We poor people have been staying here for decades. But, the government is not looking towards us,' said a protesting slum dweller. Bhubaneswar DCP Prateek Singh said, 'We have prevented them from holding the protest rally as they have not taken permission from the police for it.' PTI BBM NN