Sports Dept Downplays Row Over Acquiring Kalinga Studio Land

Bhubaneswar: Amid controversy over the proposal to create a sports complex on the unused land of Kalinga Studio, on the outskirts of the city, the Sports and Youth Services Department on Sunday clarified that it was just a suggestion and no decision had been taken in this regard.

“Since the city is growing, we have requested General Administration (GA) Department to identify land patches for setting up sports complex and playgrounds in different parts of the city. The letter about Kalinga Studio was also written with the same objective,” said Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Sports and Youth Services, Vishal Dev,

In the letter, the department had proposed considering a ‘part’ of Kalinga Studio, which is lying vacant, for a sports complex.

Elaborating on this, Dev said that the proposal is for developing a sports complex on the ‘unutilised’ vacant stretch of land not the whole of Kalinga Studio. “It is a simple proposal from our side. GA Department gets requests for land from different departments and agencies,” he added.

This proposal, however, has sparked a row with Ollywood fraternity vehemently opposing the move.

On Saturday, chairman of Odisha Film Development Corporation, Munna Khan, had said that there was no question of allowing a sports complex inside Kalinga Studio premises.

In his reaction, veteran Ollywood actor Mihir Das accused the state government of showing step-motherly attitude towards the Odia cine industry. “As far as I know, the expansion of the studio as planned by the Odisha Film Development Corporation would require more land,” he added.