2.703 acre OOA land reverted to Odisha govt account

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Cuttack, Mar 10:

Land measuring 2.703 acres occupied by the Odisha Olympic Association (OOA) is back again with the Odisha government following execution of an order passed in 2003 by the then collector of Cuttack.

Notably, 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 purposes.

In 2002, the then tehsildar, citing 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, issued an order on July 19, 2003 (case no. 19/2) and asked the tehsildar to revert back the 2.703 acre of land to the state government.

Incumbent tehsildar Abanikanta Patnaik, by virtue of the 2003 order of the collector, reverted the 2.703 acres of land into the government account.

In the near future, other leased out lands within the Barabati Stadium premises will be surveyed and on finding them to be put in use for purposes other than that cited in the lease deed cases will be filed for getting back the same land into government account, said sources in the tehsil office.

It may be mentioned here that the state government had allocated lands to the OOA on lease basis for the development and promotion of sports in the state in three phases.

While the government had allotted 20.800 acre to the OOA in 1949, it had again allotted 2.703 to it in 1969 and 1.222 acre on a different date.