Goemkarponn Desk
PANAJI: Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant today has announced that the IIT project will be scrapped in Shel-Melauli while stating that the project will be shifted outside the proposed area.
Cheif Minister Sawant along with Valpoi MLA Vishwajit Rane, Panch Members, Sarpanch and some locals held a crucial meeting on the IIT issue.
“IIT project will be shifted out of Shel-Melauli, this decision has been taken in keeping in mind the sentiments of the villagers there and request made by Valpoi MLA,’ said CM Sawant
He said that as of now the decision has only been made to take the project out of Melauli and decision on new site will soon be decided.
“The decision to withdraw police cases on the locals will also be decided soon,”he added
Valpoi MLA Vishwajit Rane said that if my people dont want the IIT project that Chief Minister should take the prestigious project to some other location in Goa.
On Monday, the chief minister said he was willing to discuss the issue with the protesting villagers even as he added that the demand for shifting the IIT campus to another location would not be considered.
Protesting villagers, who have set up a blockade at the entrance to the proposed site, have, for several months now, been refusing to allow government surveyors to demarcate the land to be handed over to the IIT. They have also turned down the state government’s offer to exclude lands surrounding the village temple from the campus as well as concessions for those who claimed to use the land for agricultural purposes.