Kendrapara, June 30: Alleged fund misuse has hindered the progress of Biju Patnaik Public Park in this district headquarters township.

The foundation stone of the children’s park was laid in 2005 on the periphery of Kendrapara Autonomous College with much fanfare. The public utility project was funded by both the central and state government grants.

Notwithstanding public money spent for the purpose, there is no existence of the proposed children’s park. As things stand now, the stone plaque is the only thing that greets the casual visitor to the site. The proposed demarcated park boundary has turned into a grazing ground for stray cattle. In a classic case of how government funds go down the drains, there has been no work on the park in the past six years though Rs 8.63 lakh was pumped into the civic amenity project.

“There has been massive misuse of funds sanctioned for the park project. The Kendrapara Municipality council is entirely responsible for this,” said Bijoy Krushna Sahu, former chairman of Kendrapara Municipality.

“In a 2.65 acre patch of government land, the park project was envisaged with Rs 13 lakh grants from Chief Minister’s Special Problem funds and Member of Parliament Local Area Development Fund grants. But the civic body authorities, colluding with officials concerned, have largely misutilised the park grants,” said Mohammad Akbar Ali, another former municipality chairman.

“The misuse of funds is evident. Rs 7.21 lakh is claimed to have been spent for ground-levelling while the spending of Rs 1.42 lakh more was shown towards the boundary wall construction But from all accounts, the spent funds should not exceed more than Rs 2 lakh. Funds were embezzled using fictitious bills,” alleged Sarat Beura, a councillor of ward-21.

“When the foundation stone was laid for the park project, the local residents had hoped that it would be good for the children. The proposed park has schools, colleges and other educational institutions near it. But the project is showing no signs of completion and people have lost their hope on the project,” said Rebati Raman Das, a local resident. “The administration is looking into the factors that led to the delay in completion of the project. Charges regarding the misuse of funds are also being inquired into. The administration is intent on early completion of the project,” said Kendrapara collector Pradipta Kumar Pattnaik.