The State government is likely to pass a Government Order soon on allocation of 47 acres of land at Elandapatti on the outskirts of the city for establishing the proposed Olympic Academy.
According to sources, a team of officials from the office of the Commissioner of Land Administration and the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu visited the village earlier this month to study the feasibility of establishing the Olympic Academy, which was earlier proposed to set up on the land owned by the Tiruchi Corporation at Panjapur. Various aspects including accessibility and connectivity from Tiruchi and Pudukottai, nature of soil, ground water level, transport facilities and others were studied during the inspection. A few surveyors of the Revenue Department were involved to measure the extent of the land.
Since the joint inspection found the land at Elandapatti suitable to set up the Olympic Academy, the revenue officials began the process of allocation of the land to the SDAT.
According to sources, the Tiruchi district administration has sent a proposal to the Commissioner of Land Administration on allocation of 47 acres of land to the SDAT. The proposal was under the consideration of the State government. A G.O. is expected to be passed soon to that effect.
The sources added that a blueprint for the effective utilisation of the land was under process. It would reveal the space required for creating sports facilities including track and field. The Academy would have infrastructure for most of Olympic sports. The idea was to identify potential talents to provide intensive training to them to take part in international competitions.
Chief Minister M. K. Stalin announced the setting up of an Olympic Stadium at a function held in Tiruchi two years ago. It found a mention in the State Budget for the year 2024-25 presented in the Assembly Consequent to the announcement, the Tiruchi Corporation passed resolutions to allot about 50 acres of land at Panjapur, where it is building an integrated bus terminus. The SDAT also took a number of steps to prepare Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Olympic Academy. However, the site was dropped and a new site at Elandapatti was chosen to set up the Olympic Academy.
