News Analysis India

Tag: IIT-Goa

  • Goa government decides to shift IIT project out of Sattari

    By PTI
    PANAJI: Bowing to public pressure, the Goa government on Friday announced that the proposed IIT campus at Shel Melaulim village in Sattari taluka will be shifted to another part of the state.

    The project has met with severe opposition from locals, who staged a large-scale protest at the village, insisting that they will not part with their land for the campus.

    Chief Minister Pramod Sawant held a meeting with the sarpanches and Zilla Panchayat members from Sattari taluka at his official residence on Thursday evening in presence of state Health Minister and Valpoi MLA Vishwajit Rane.

    Speaking to reporters, the chief minister said the state government has decided to shift the project out of Sattari due to the constant opposition from locals.

    “We respect the sentiments of people, which is why we have decided to shift the project out of Sattari,” he said, adding that the government is yet to decide on an alternative site.

    The project was planned from the perspective of development, but the state government could not convince locals, he said.

    Earlier this week, Rane had appealed to the chief minister to shift the project considering the opposition to it and had urged him to withdraw cases registered against protestors.

    At least 12 policemen and several villagers were injured when both groups clashed in the forest area near Shel-Melaulim village last week.

    Sawant said that the police will review the cases filed against protestors.

    “There are requests to withdraw the cases filed against protestors. There is a process which needs to be followed. We are reviewing the cases,” he said.

  • Clash over IIT campus project: Security beefed up in Goa town

    By PTI
    PANAJI: The situation in Goa’s Valpoi town remained tense on Thursday, a day after locals clashed with police to protest against the proposed Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) campus at the nearby Shel-Melauli village.

    A police official said security has been stepped up and they have requisitioned additional force, as villagers remained stern on not allowing the demarcation of land for the construction of the IIT campus.

    The land demarcation work was suspended temporarily on Thursday as per the government’s orders, the official said.

    “The demarcation work can resume any time,” he added. The IIT Goa campus is proposed on a 10 lakh square metre area in Shel-Malauli and Guleli villages, located around 50 km from the state capital Panaji.

    The villagers are opposing the project, claiming that it would rob away their precious lands.

    The protest took a violent turn at a forested area outside the Shel-Melaulim village on Wednesday when the protesters hurled stones at police personnel, who responded with lathicharge.

    At least 12 police personnel were injured in the attack, an official earlier said.

    The villagers, who had blocked the road in Valpoi town, located around 10 km from the Shel-Malauli village, went back on Wednesday night.

    Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday said the state government will go ahead with the project, notwithstanding the opposition.

    On Thursday, security was stepped up in the Valpoi town, a senior police official said, adding that a process was underway to register offences against those who threw stones on the policemen.

    “We are in the process of filing cases against the protesters, specially those who instigated the crowd,” the official said.

  • IIT Goa will come up, ready for discussion with protestors, says CM Pramod Sawant

    By PTI
    PANAJI: The proposed Indian Institute of Technology campus in Sattari taluka in Goa will come up despite protests from local residents and all their demands will be discussed, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Sunday.

    He said he had toured the site in Shel-Maulim where the IIT is proposed to come up.

    “We are ready to discuss demands of the locals. The project has not been scrapped.

    Formalities for construction are going on,” the CM said, who also added a police outpost was coming up in the village as part of the IIT project.

    People in the area have been protesting at the site over the past four months against the project and stalling work, officials said.