SANGUEM: The farmers who opposed the IIT project at Cotarli in Sangun have welcomed the shifting of the project to Sattari.
Appreciating the thoughtful move made by Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant, the farmers who have their paddy fields and other agricultural plantation in and around Cotarli, questioned Sanguem MLA Prasad Gaonkar over his rallying behind the project even after the chief minister having decided to shift the project to Guleli in Satari.
In the letter addressed to the chief minister, the farmers claimed the IIT project, if allowed to come up in Cotarli, would have spell doom to lush green fields and the environmental surroundings in the village.
The farmers highlighted that the area which was proposed for the construction of the project had several streams and seasonal rivulets which formed major source of agricultural water supply to the surrounding agricultural farms and all this would have faced a death knell in the event of the government going ahead with the project in Sanguem.
Moreover, the proposed area also had a hill in between and this would have also been cut to pave way for the construction of the concrete structures.
“However, shifting of the project has saved the agricultural land in Sanguem from destruction and for which the farmers in Cotarli village will be ever thankful,” said Constancio Mascarenhas who spearheaded the movement in Sanguem.
Another activist Ina D’Costa also appreciated Dr Sawant for his “thoughtful” action despite steep pressure from local MLA and others to get the IIT project in Sanguem despite opposition from the farming community.
“A lot of flora and fauna would have been destroyed if the project had come up in the pristine Cotarli village,” claimed Dcosta.
Similar feelings were also echoed by other farmers in the locality who had pledged to lead the agitation till the end and had even taken recourse to divine help to prevail better counsel in the minds of decision makers involved in the project.
