Cuttack: Amid a raging controversy over redevelopment of the historic Barabati Stadium in Cuttack city, Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) secretary Sanjay Behera on Sunday clarified that no agreement had been signed by the previous BJD government for such expansion.
Taking a swipe at BJD leader and Cuttack Mayor Subash Singh for his remarks on the issue, the OCA secretary told media that people should refrain from doing politics over Barabati Stadium, an important landmark of the millennium city of Cuttack.
Noting that no budgetary allocation had been made for redevelopment of the stadium, Behera said the previous government had simply promised to extent necessary assistance for the proposed expansion. However, no written agreement was signed with the government, he said.
Expansion of Barabati Stadium was proposed to be undertaken through collaborative venture of BCCI and OCA, Behera said, terming the claims made by Cuttack Mayor as baseless.
Claims made by Singh that a detailed project report (DPR) for Rs 700 crore project had been prepared have no basis, he said, adding that there should not be any politics over Barabati Stadium.
Notably, the Cuttack Mayor had lashed out at the BJP government on Saturday after Sports and Youth Services Minister Suryavanshi Suraj told the Assembly that no step has been taken to upgrade Barabati stadium.
“Barabati Stadium is managed of Odisha Cricket Association OCA). The department has not taken any step for upgrading or redeveloping the stadium, including specific infrastructure improvements and modern amenities,” the minister said while replying to query by Barabati-Cuttack MLA Sofia Firdous.
Later speaking to the media, Subhash Singh termed the Minister’s statement, ‘outrightly rejecting any plans to redevelop the stadium’, as unfortunate. “We had sought nabakalebara (redevelopment) of the stadium in 2022 and accordingly a plan was prepared after taking the consent of Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI). The foundation stone for the project was also laid by the then Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on February 27,” he said.
In February, OCA secretary informed that the redevelopment plan pegged in the range of Rs 600 crore to Rs 700 crore was to be implemented in partnership with BCCI, OCA and corporates.
