PANAJI
Goa government has initiated a fresh process to identify land to set up a permanent campus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Goa as it has kept on hold the Rivona site, following roadblock in the land acquisition.
The decision of the government to keep the site on hold comes almost two months after the Selection Committee of the Union Education Ministry inspected and granted nod to the proposed 10.5 lakh sq mtrs of land at Rivona in Sanguem taluka to set up IIT Goa campus.
The South Goa district collector had issued a public notice for the acquisition of the said land. However, lack of documentation has forced the government to backtrack on the proposed land and look for an alternative.
Speaking to The Goan, Education Secretary Prasad Lolayekar, without going into the details said “we are exploring other options”.
Sources said that the land under four survey numbers measuring 10,49,118 sq mtrs at Malewada-Rivona was identified by the government and the Revenue department was directed to ascertain and verify the title documents.
“However, there were some issues as far as title documents were concerned. In the absence of documents or lack of mismatch in the documentation, the land acquisition process hit the roadblock,” sources said.
Despite several attempts Sanguem MLA and Minister Subhash Faldesai, who was instrumental in proposing the site and pushing for IIT at Rivona, remained unavailable for the comments.
Set up in July 2016, IIT Goa campus is temporarily housed in Goa Engineering College at Farmagudi and has been looking for a permanent campus since then.
Several land parcels right from Canacona to Sattari to Sanguem were identified for the project over the years. However, the same were either rejected by the Union Ministry or faced protests from locals due to several reasons.
As per the criteria set by the Union Ministry for Education, around 12 lakh sqm land is necessary to set up an IIT campus.
The government had first identified a site in Canacona taluka but was dropped due to opposition. The proposal was later shifted to Melauli, Sattari, where locals organised a sustained protest against it. The government was forced to drop the site, citing “people’s sentiments.
The government then considered shifting the project to Cotarli in Sanguem but then the site was rejected by the Ministry amid public outcry.
