Chhatrapur: Construction of a hockey centre with synthetic turf here in Ganjam district has been pushed into uncertainty due to a reported delay in transfer of ownership of land for the project.
Although tender has been assigned to a firm, work is yet to start as the land acquired for the project is yet to be demarcated and handed over for construction.
As per sources, the district administration has identified 3.1-acre land of khata no-475 for the proposed project at Sitarampur mouza under Chhatrapur tehsil. The land belonging to the Home department has an old police department building on it which needs to be demolished before transfer of the ownership of the land.
Earlier, the district Collector had written to the additional home secretary to transfer the ownership of the land from Home department to state Sports and Youth Services department March 2, 2021.
Ashok Kumar Mishra, the head of IDCO’s Berhampur division, has also written to the Ganjam ADM to direct the Home department officials to demolish the building. Mishra has also written to the Ganjam SP to take expeditious steps in this direction. Mishra has also said that necessary arrangements will be made to demolish the building.
Sources said the state government is laying stress on the project and the department secretary is reviewing the project every week while the permission of the DFO will be obtained before cutting the trees that have grown on the land. However, the delay in handover of the land is pushing the project into uncertainty.
