CANACONA
Stiff opposition from locals may have forced the government to scrap the IIT project in Loliem-Polem six years ago, but it appears the plan has not been completely abandoned.
The idea of establishing the IIT-Goa campus in Loliem-Polem came up once again, and this time, at an informal discussion after the ‘Sampurna Goa Yatra’ of Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai to Poinguinim on Wednesday.
As the Loliem-Polem sarpanch and panchas along with Poinguinim panchas were leaving the venue after their interaction with the governor, where they had demanded non-polluting industries in their areas, Speaker & Canacona MLA Ramesh Tawadkar was heard casually asking the Loliem-Polem panchayat group if they would be willing to extend support if the IIT is brought to Loliem.
Tawadkar looked towards Loliem-Polem panch Bushan Prabhugaongkar who, however, smiled and remained silent.
Incidentally, Prabhugaonkar had been the sarpanch when the then government had allotted land in Loliem for the IIT campus, only to be met with stiff opposition by locals and forcing the government to abandon the project in Canacona.
Tawadkar then turned towards Loliem-Polem panch and former sarpanch Ajay Lolienkar (another former sarpanch and panch) for an answer.
Lolienkar remained non-committal but said they would have to “sit and discuss” the issue, indicating that the Loliem-Polem panchayat is willing to discuss the matter with the State government on bringing the IIT-Goa to Loliem.
Ever since the Centre had allotted the IIT to Goa in 2014, it has been functioning from a temporary campus shared with the Goa Engineering College in Farmagudi.
Then chief minister late Manohar Parrikar proposed setting up the IIT campus in Canacona and officials even began exploring Bhagwati Plateau in Loliem village for the campus.
However, residents of Loliem strongly opposed the campus on grounds that the Bhagwati Plateau is an eco-sensitive land and the huge campus would exert added pressure on the meagre infrastructure in the village.
Following stiff protests and agitations from environmentalists and social organisations, the State government finally abandoned the project and agreed to move it out of Canacona.
The IIT-Goa campus project met with similar opposition when land was inspected, forcing the government to shift it out of South Goa.
The government decided to move the IIT-Goa to North Goa and identified land at Melauli-Sattari. Even though the land was acquired for the IIT-Goa project, attempts to set up the campus met with even stronger resistance from locals, with clashes breaking out with police as survey work was in progress.
Then Canacona MLA Isidore Fernandes even suggested bringing the IIT-Goa campus to Canacona taluka but not in Loliem-Polem, and had even explored a few other options at Agonda, Shristhal and Poinguinim. His plan found no favour with the government, which was already seized with a massive confrontation with the people of Sattari.
Amid mounting opposition from people from different parts of Sattari, the State government yielded yet again and scrapped the project at Melauli.
Sources said the government is presently looking for an alternate land and is reportedly shortlisting new sites.
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Activists decide to
'wait and watch'
CANACONA:
Amid renewed plans of bringing the project to Loliem-Polem, environmentalists and locals who had spearheaded an agitation to oppose the IIT-Goa campus in Loliem-Polem have decided to “wait and watch”.
“We just heard some people talking about plans to bring the IIT-Goa project to Canacona, but we don't know what is being proposed and where. However, we prefer to wait and watch,” said one of the villagers of Loliem who was at the forefront to oppose the IIT-Goa campus at Bhagwati Plateau in Loliem-Polem.
When contacted, Denis Fernandes, who had led the Citizens Committee of Loliem to oppose the IIT-Goa project, also said that he would “wait and watch” on plans to bring back the IIT-Goa project to Loleim-Polem.
