VALPOI
A day after land survey work began for the IIT project at Shel-Melauli in Guleli-Sattari, anti-IIT agitators staged a protest march and a sit-in agitation outside the Sattari deputy collector’s office on Thursday and renewed their opposition to the project.
The protestors first staged a sit-in agitation outside the office of the Sattari Deputy Collector Rajesh Ajgaonkar. A delegation comprising Shubham Shivalkar, Ram Melekar, Shashikant Savardekar and others then met Ajgaonkar and submitted a memorandum to him, demanding an immediate halt of the land survey work.
They claimed that the land has been in possession with locals of the area for hundreds of years and they had been involved in cultivation for generations. They added that the IIT project would destroy their livelihood.
After listening to the protestors, Deputy Collector Rajesh Ajgaonkar said the work is being carried out following orders from the government.
Making it clear that the collector had issued directives in this connection and work could not be halted, the deputy collector warned that those trying to force any closure of the project would be charged with obstruction of government work.
The protestors then left the deputy collector’s office and staged a protest rally in Valpoi town, before assembling for a meeting at ‘Shaheed Stambh’, where speakers addressed the gathering.
Reiterating that their land would be ruined due to the IIT project at Gulei, speakers at the protest insisted that the State government should relocate the project to another part of the State. Those addressing the agitators included Shubham Shivalkar, Ranjit Rane and Dashrath Mandrekar.
