land acquisition glitches seem to have halted Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s dream project of establishing a Cricket Academy at his home town. District Administration is yet to provide the Indian skipper the promised 12.5 acre land, which had been identified at Nayatoli Simaliya village in Kanke circle near Ratu for the dream project of Captain Cool.
None of the officials of district administration were in a position to comment on the issue expressing their inability to provide information in this regard. Former Chief Minister Arjun Munda had promised space for Dhoni’s Cricket Academy after Team India clinched 2011 world cup defeating Sri lanka by 6 wickets in the finals played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai under his captaincy.
Dhoni had expressed his desire to establish a Cricket Academy at his home town to promote young cricket talents of the State. “I have no any idea in this regard as we keep on hearing from you people about the cricket academy. I have never come across to any such file related to the land being allotted to Dhoni,” said a key official in the district administration. Revenue and land Reforms department officials were also not able to speak much about the status of acquisition of land to be provided to Dhoni. According to the proposal, 12.5 acres of Gair Majurua (GM) land was to be provided to Dhoni for developing an academy at Nayatoli, Simaliya on the outskirts of Ranchi. According to the sources in the district administration, the file regarding the land acquisition, was sent to the South Chotanagpur Commissioner.
It was then forwarded to the land revenue department and is said to be still pending with it. The proposal was drafted by the District Administration. Meanwhile, a petition has also been filed in the Jharkhand High Court, claiming an individual’s ownership over the land. The petitioner has stated that he had been paying revenue to the district administration. The petition is still pending in the court.
“One person has challenged the state government’s move to acquire the said piece of land claiming that he has been given receipts regularly by the Circle Office against his ownership of the land,” said an employee of the CO office requesting anonymity.
Dhoni, known for his love for his hometown had earlier approached to Central Coalfields limited to provide a piece of land for setting up the cricket academy. The CCl, which had felicitated him for his contributions to the state team and the Indian cricket team, was also said to have devised a formula to make Mahi’s dream come true.