MARGAO
The government has finally taken possession of land admeasuring 4.56 lakh sq mts at Cuncolim, paving the way for the setting up of the permanent campus of the National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Goa. Curtains on the long-drawn land acquisition proceedings came down on Tuesday noon after Land Acquisition Officer, Umakant Korkankar handed over the certificate to the acquiring department, Director of Technical Education, Vivek Kamat at the South Goa District Collectorate. The handing over the certificate marks the completion of the land acquisition process, signifying that the government is now in complete possession of the land in question. Director of Technical Education, Vivek Kamat said the government would hand over the land to the NIT-Goa to set up the project at Cuncolim on priority basis. “The NIT-Goa is a prestigious project estimated to cost ` 780 crore, including ` 350 crore on civil construction. Work on the project may either commence in May or after the monsoon,” Kamat said. Replying to a question, the Director said that since the NIT permanent campus will be established at Cuncolim in phases, the institute may start functioning at Cuncolim in the 2018 academic year if construction starts at the site on schedule. Land acquisition for the prestigious project had commenced with the publication of Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act on July 19, 2013. Though the project had initiated raised eyebrows amongst a section of the people from Cuncolim over the huge land being acquired by the government for the project, the land acquisition process had a smooth sailing after the project found favour with a cross section of the local residents. Land Acquisition Officer, Umakant Korkankar told The Goan that the government had initially planned to acquire around 6.09 lakh sq mts of land for the proposed project, but later restricted the required area for acquisition to 4.56 lakh sq mts. Incidentally, when the proposal was first mooted around 2011, the government had proposed to acquire around 12 lakh sq mts of land, spread across Cuncolim and the neighbouring village of Balli, triggering protests from the local populace. After the change in political guard in 2012, the government came out with a revised plan to acquire only around six lakh sq mts of land located in Cuncolim, which was finally restricted to 4.56 lakh sq mts. When asked to shed light on the rehabilitation of the four structures located in the acquired property, Korkankar said that rehabilitation falls within the domain of the state government.
