Utkal University move to close VSS Nagar side gate invites protest – Times of India

Parishad general secretary Dilip Dash Sharma said the university on Monday put a notice on the VSS Nagar entrance gate about closure of the gate on Sundays and holidays. On the very next day, the workers engaged by the university had dug up the gate and shockingly the wall was there on Wednesday, he added.

“When VSS Nagar came up in 1978, many staff were staying in the housing board colony in our locality. Many of them have received quarters here. For them, the gate was opened then. But now the university suddenly closed it. We will protest this move of the institution,” said Dash Sharma.
He also alleged that the university has encroached VSS Nagar land by building a boundary wall. “We have space between Laxmi Vihar and VSS Nagar, but the university has built the boundary wall on our land closing the road to Acharya Vihar. The university cannot evict the encroachers inside the campus, but close the gate terming us as outsiders,” he added.

Utkal University registrar Avaya Kumar Nayak said students and staff had been complaining before the university vice chancellor against the rash driving act of outsiders coming from this gate. Even some of them had faced accidents because of rash driving. Some outsiders had stolen equipment used for water taps and pipes, he added

“There was a meeting of the development committee chaired by the vice-chancellor on this issue. The committee took a decision to permanently close the entry of four-wheelers by constructing a wall on the gate. Because we already have two existing gates in the university and we will open a new gate soon from Vani Vihar square side,” said Nayak.

He said the small gate is still open to the public (except Sunday and holidays). “We will review the traffic through the narrow gate after one month. If we find no change in the situation, we may make the narrow gate either for pedestrians only or close it permanently,” he added.

He said they have started closing the small open space in between boundary walls near Patharbandh slum. They are considering the request of people regarding the small passage at a treatment centre situated next to the university boundary wall, he added.

We have written a letter to the general administration department, Bhubaneswar development authority (BDA) and Bhubaneswar municipal corporation (BMC) to verify the claim made by the VSS Nagar locals about the land. “After getting clarification from these government offices, we will take our next course of action,” said the registrar.

Meanwhile, Utkal University will come up with a new entrance gate from Vani Vihar square side. It will have an 800m road with a bridge on the drainage channel near the campus with an estimated cost of Rs 5 crore. “It will connect the administrative building via Govind Sahu market. Beautification of the gate will be done. The existing main gate will become an exit gate,” he added.