Bhubaneswar, July 8: The state government may take away the 24-acre land allotted to the BDA City Centre, as the amusement park authorities are not utilising it properly.

In a letter to the state government's general administration (GA) department, the custodian of all government land inside the city, the vice-chairman of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA), Krishan Kumar, has requested it to look into the matter as the present partner of the amusement park is using the land for "other purposes."

"An organisation must use a land alloted to it for a particular purpose, failing which the state government may take it back," senior administrative officer-cum-public relations officer of BDA Madhumita Rath said.

The amusement park was earlier known as BDA-Nicco Park under the aegis of BDA-Nicco Park and Resorts Limited, which was formed on December 12, 1998. However, the venture later ran into rough weathers and the Nicco Group pulled out of the project.

In 2007, the development authority floated a tender and selected Suntech City Private Limited as its partner and the park was named as BDA City Centre. While the company owns 51 per cent share, BDA has 49 per cent share in it.

The Telegraph on July 26 last year published a report "BDA spots missing profits after seven years" on the formation of a multi-disciplinary committee to probe into allegations of steep entry fee collection and non-sharing of profits by the operator with the BDA.

Several petitions were filed by social service organisations in July last year alleging the hike in the fees and the practice of non-sharing of profits with the development authority.

Rath said: "The vice-chairman has written a letter to the state government as the probe has found that the partner company at the BDA City Centre is engaged in work other than that related to the amusement park. While they are not being able to manage the lake inside it, they are investing more on building community centres, marriage halls and restaurants violating the conditions for land allotment," she said.

It can be mentioned here that the establishment of such centres in the park is also causing traffic snarls during festive occasions.

The multi-disciplinary panel comprised members from finance, planning, land, legal, enforcement and engineering wings of BDA. Officials of the Suntech City Private Limited, however, were not available for comment on the development.

In December 2013, a senior BDA official had submitted a report on an unused land of more than four acres lying on the northeastern corner of the park along the Parthasarathi Complex. The report had suggested immediate possession of it apprehending criminal activities or unauthorised occupation.