Now, three sites proposed for IIT project at Sanguem

Panaji: The state government has now identified three sites in Sanguem itself to set up the permanent campus of the IIT, Goa. The state government has already written to the Union education ministry with its new land suggestions and a response is expected within 15 days, on the visit by the site selection committee to inspect the three plots, Sanguem MLA Subhash Phal Dessai told TOI on Monday.
The last time, the ministry said that the land was inadequate and did not find it fit for the site selection committee to visit to carry out an inspection. The land was thus rejected.
“The earlier site is also part of the three new suggestions. The site was found inadequate because, of the 7 lakh sqm of land, around 4 lakh sqm was hilly area,”Phal Dessai said.
“Now we have identified additional adjoining land to make the project viable in this site, if cleared for the project,” Phal Dessai said.
Chief minister Pramod Sawant as well as Phaldesai have insisted that the IIT campus will come up in Sanguem itself, even though the earlier land suggested for the project was rejected by the ministry. Phal Dessai said that having an IIT in Sanguem will bring the much-needed development in the area.
The Sanguem MLA, however, said that the government wants to keep the location of the two other new sites in Sanguem under wraps. The project of the permanent campus for the IIT could not materialie as locals at each site from Loliem in Canacona to Melaulim in Sattari, opposed the project.
The earlier site at Sanguem was shortlisted by the government as the land was already in the state’s possession and would not be affected by private owners refusing to part with their land at the last minute. However, sources said, that the new sites identified include parcels of private land in them.