The government appears to be facing yet another roadblock to the IIT project. After being forced out of Canacona and Melauli, a section of Sanguem farmers from Cotarli village are raising a banner of protests against what is termed as “an attempt to take possession of their cultivable land”.
There is a stark resemblance to the Melauli and Cotarli protests. In both cases, there has been an outcry over attempts to displace locals and snatch away their livelihoods. In both cases, locals in the proposed area were dependent on farming. The only other similarity is that respective MLAs came out strongly in support of the IIT project. The only difference, however, is that in Cotarli there is a sizeable section that backs the project. Last Sunday’s disruption of a meeting is early signs of discord brewing up among locals.
Lest we forget, the Melauli agitation started with a meagre group of four villagers initially opposing the project. The growing support it received in the area and adjoining villages subsequently, and the unity it brought about within people that they even took on the security and police forces and withstood police atrocities stands testimony to the resolve with which people of Goa take up land issues.
The opposition in Cotarli raises a pertinent question: Why is the government veering around areas inhabited by farmers who are dependent on farming for their livelihoods? Why is the government not looking at the land that is in its possession and free of occupation? For example, the government owns large parcels of land earlier demarcated for SEZ. The land at Bhutkhamb Plateau in Keri, earlier allocated to the Nylon 6,6 project is around 12 lakh sqmts. The government is also in possession of 10 lakh sqmts of land in Ponda, besides the 1.5 lakh sqmts of land available at the GEC premises at Farmagudi.
If the government is eyeing the sale of SEZ land to pay off loans and bring about financial equilibrium, there are still better options available. What about the 50 lakh sqmts of land leased to Zuari Agro Chemicals Limited? The government can pursue this case vigorously and reclaim the remaining portion of land, and in the process also salvage itself from a charge of being a partner in crime. Leave alone the sale of plots and the development undertaken thus far, with a freeze on further sale of sale announced by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant in the ongoing Legislative Assembly, and given the background that the lease deed executed in 1968 is unlawful, the government is at liberty to claim possession of the remainder of the property, an area which is more than sufficient to house an IIT campus. This location as an IIT campus has its advantages with proximity to educational institutes like BITS Pilani besides easy access to Dabolim airport, and there cannot be any opposition.
Local MLA and Social Welfare Minister Subhash Phaldesai must look at the welfare of the people of his constituency instead of creating an illusion that IIT will bring about wholesale development and change the future of the people of Sanguem.
