TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: The Goa government has finally given its nod for the National Institute of Technology (NIT) permanent campus at Cuncolim with residential facilities.
The governments cleared all decks in favour of the NIT project after the Revenue department notified section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act to acquire land admeasuring 4.56 lakh sq mts in Cuncolim on the plateau overlooking the Cuncolim police station.
In a notification signed by Under Secretary, Revenue Ashutosh Apte, the government has directed the deputy Collector, Land Acquisition to go ahead with the land acquisition under section 7 of the Land Acquisition Act. The decision comes against the backdrop of the government accepting report of the land acquisition officer under section 5-A of the Land acquisition Act.
While the major chunk of the land in question, around 3.17 lakh sq. mts to be precise, belongs to the Court Receiver, that is the Sociedade de Cuncolim, the balance land is owned by private parties from the village.
The NIT project had hit a row of sorts after the land acquisition came under objection from certain quarters, even as the project received equal support from a large section of the society, comprising of academicians and the political class.
While the Land Acquisition officer had estimated the cost of acquiring the land in question to around Rs 30 crore, the acquisition cost is now expected to cross the Rs 60 crore mark in view of the new Land Acquisition Act that has come into force in the country this year.
