The signboard of the proposed cricket stadium at Barsapara looms over a merry-go-round at a fair on Wednesday. Picture by Biju Boro

Guwahati, May 12: The Assam Cricket Association (ACA) will begin this monthend construction of a state-of-the-art stadium on the “disputed” ground in Barsapara.

The association was supposed to lay the foundation of the stadium after Magh Bihu in January. However, the plan was put off following the notification for the Lok Sabha election.

“The programme was stalled because we could not get the settlers evicted from the ground in view of the election notification and the code of conduct,” ACA secretary Bikash Baruah said.

He said a section of settlers had filed a suit at Gauhati High Court when the ACA moved the government for possession of the land. “However, the court ruling has gone in our favour and the eviction notice would be served immediately after the election process is over,” he added.

The cricket stadium will have an indoor facility for summer training, a gym and other necessary facilities, the ACA secretary said.

The ACA has been allotted 30 bighas of “non-encroached” land on the 60-bigha ground by Guwahati circle officer Indra Kalita on December 12 last year. Revenue commissioner M.K. Barooah on December 4 last year gave the go-ahead to the ACA following an instruction to the Kamrup (metropolitan) district administration.

The state sports department had originally given the ground to the SOS Children’s Village in 1999 for building a football academy with funding from Fifa.

However, the SOS village aborted the plan and expressed willingness to hand over the ground to the government because the world football association had pulled out of the project.

Dispur had decided to divide the ground between the ACA and the Guwahati Sports Association (GSA), which has planned to construct a football stadium with an athletics track. However, the GSA has failed to acquire its share of the ground.

The ACA, in the meantime, has leased out the ground to a Lutuma-based club for an entertainment fair for 10 days. Baruah said it was done to raise funds — Rs 500 per day — for maintenance of the ground.

The previous AGP government in the state has reserved a 98-bigha plot at Hengerabari for the ACA to build a stadium. However, the plan was abandoned after the Board of Control for Cricket in India rejected the plot that would have required massive earth filling.

The ACA had spent lakhs of rupees in ground development at the Hengrabari site.