PANJIM: Former Chief Minister and Congress Poriem MLA Pratpasingh Rane today urged the government to look for an alternative site for the proposed Indian Institute of technology (IIT) campus, considering the mounting opposition to the project from the villagers of Shel-Melavli.
Rane said that the government should not be adamant to forcefully impose project against people’s wishes. “There is ample land available for projects like IIT. Alternate land should be identified,” he said.
Rane said that people’s sentiment needs to be respected. “People are opposing,” he said.
“Just because the land is fallow, let us not convert them into cement concrete jungles. Let us explore options like horticulture cultivation,” he opined.
The Senior Congress leader in the past had also urged the government to look into the reasons why the people are opposing.