The much-hyped project to restore Birsa Munda Football Stadium to its past glory has run into a unique hurdle.

Weather is conducive, funds are available and the intention of officials appears positive, but the absence of a curator is delaying the grass work at the Morabadi stadium's playing arena.

In February, the district administration had started the Rs 30-lakh repair project at the behest of the state sports department following complaints of uneven, dry and green-less patches, termite mounds, loose soil etc at the stadium. While levelling of the ground, removal of termites etc were completed between February and June, the grass-laying work is yet to start.

"The levelling and other repair work was done by the building construction division. But, later it was realised that grass-laying wasn't exactly a civil work and required a specialist curator, who could tell us how to go about the green work. It is a scientific job for grasses can't be laid randomly. Also, it requires proper mixing of soil and sand," said an official in the sports department.

As a result, local sources maintained, earlier the project was to be completed by May, but now it was anybody's guess.

The delay is not only depriving the capital of big-ticket events but also forcing players to look for other alternatives to continue their daily practices.

Currently, a portion of the football stadium, which was one of the sporting venues for the 34th National Games held in Ranchi in 2011, has been rented out to Sports Authority of India (SAI), Ranchi. Around 100 SAI cadets are lodged in its residential campus and pursuing various games such as archery, football, hockey and athletics, among others.

However, due to the unfinished work, the cadets are forced to train at makeshift venues at the Astroturf hockey stadium, or in open Morabadi grounds.

"We don't know when the stadium greens will be ready. But the daily practice is necessary for us," said a female archer, aged around 13, who currently practises with temporary marks outside the football stadium.

"In August, we are planning a national meet to be organised jointly by SAI and School Sports Promotion Foundation (SSPF). We still don't know if the stadium will be ready by then," he added.

According to him, this is the perfect time for laying grasses. "Monsoon is here and further delay will only turn the ground into deep muck," he added.

When contacted, state sports director Ranendra Kumar said they had already given the funds to the district administration for the job. On the delay in the grass work, he said the matter was discussed at a meeting held at the department level recently. "We have spoken to Mecon. Soon, we will send them a formal letter, requesting them to spare one of their curators to oversee our project," he said.