Team Goemkarponn
PORVORIM: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant today defended the proposed Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Goa project, urging citizens not to oppose it “just for the sake of it.”
He argued that in a state with 100% literacy, people should welcome a project of national importance that, he said, would bring long-term educational and economic benefits.
“Let people tell me why they are opposing IIT. Someone is instigating them. This is a project in national interest and Goa is going to benefit from it,” Sawant said, reacting to mounting opposition from Codar residents.
However, on the same day, locals of Codar-Bethora voiced strong resentment at a public meeting held in a temple in Bethora. Residents alleged that they were not taken into confidence over the government’s plans to set up the IIT campus in their area. According to sources, around 14.5 lakh sq. metres of Communidade land has been earmarked for acquisition.
Speakers at the meeting claimed that while a small portion of the identified site is rocky, much of it is cultivated land used by locals. They warned that the project would result in destruction of trees, agricultural fields and biodiversity, besides posing a threat to wildlife. Environmentalists present at the meeting backed the villagers, highlighting that the region’s ecology would face irreversible damage if the project proceeds.
Adding to the unease, concerns were also raised over a public notice published on August 19 by the Administration of Comunidade Central Zone, Panjim. The notice stated that land under Survey No. 63/2 of Village Codar — described as a barren, rocky plot — has been applied for perpetual lease (aforamento) to establish IIT Goa’s permanent campus. The applicant is the Directorate of Technical Education, Alto-Porvorim.
The land is bounded to the north by Survey Nos. 37/2, 37/5, 37/6, 37/4, 37/8, 38, 39/1 to 39/5, 63/1 and 43/5; and to the south by Survey Nos. 73/0, 64/0, 65/0, 71/0, 68/1, 68/2, a nalla, a road, the Nirankal village boundary and part of 63/2 under tenancy. Activists have warned that tribal tenants residing on the land could face displacement if the proposal moves forward.
“My role is to awaken Goans. I urge tribals and their leaders to look into this matter,” one of the speakers said at the meeting, vowing to resist the project at any cost.
proposed permanent campus of the Indian Institute of Technology-Goa (IIT-Goa) is now likely to come up at Codar, Ponda, on around 14.63 lakh sq. m of Comunidade land falling under Bethora-Nirankal-Codar Panchayat.
Earlier, plans to set up the institute at the Sanjivani Sugar Factory land in Dharbandora were shelved following protests by locals, who submitted a memorandum to the government claiming that the livelihoods of tribal communities would be affected.
