CUTTACK 20-Apr-2015 39
In a big jolt to the Odisha Olympic Association (OOA), the Cuttack district administration today took possession of 2.703 acres of disputed land which it had earlier brought back into government records earlier this year on March 10.
The district administration took possession of the land by hoisting red flags demarcating its boundary on all sides and pasting notices on the walls of the buildings therein in the presence of the R Raghuram Iyer, Sub-collector Cuttack and other officials including police personnel.
Within the aforesaid 2.703 acres of land are located the Odisha Cricket Academy’s building, its playground, a four-storey building and an under construction six-storey building.
``The Collector has ordered for resumption of the 2.703 acres of land. On the strength of that order, the land is being taken into possession of the Collector. The land has a building and an under construction building in it. On taking of possession, notice will be served to the occupants to vacate the premises within seven days. As you can see, notices are being pasted and announcement is being made through the public address system,`` Iyer told reporters at the spot.
It may be mentioned here that land measuring 2.703 acres occupied by the OOA was reverted back to the Odisha government by incumbent Tehsildar Abanikanta Patnaik by virtue of the 2003 order of the Collector on March 10 this year.
The state government had allotted 2.703 acres of land to the OOA in 1969 on a 90-year lease for promotion of sports in the state. It was clearly mentioned in the lease deed that the aforesaid land will be used for construction of an indoor stadium and dormitory for the athletes. However, the OOA, instead of fulfilling the terms laid down in the lease deed, used the land for other purposes.
In 2002, the then Tehsildar, citing the above mentioned reasons, had written to the then Collector to revert the allotted land to the government. The Collector, after conducting thorough examination in the matter had issued an order on July 19, 2003 (Case No 19/2) and had asked the Tehsildar to revert back the 2.703 acre of land to the state government.
