MARGAO: With Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar offering red carpet welcome to IITs and IIMs in the State as part of the road map to make Goa an educational hub, the government has finally decided to go ahead with the land acquisition for the permanent campus of National Institute of Technology Goa (NITG) at Cuncolim.
The government through Under Secretary, Revenue Ashutosh Apte has issued an order under Section 7 of the Land Acquisition Act directing the district Collector to take the order for possession of the land admeasuring around Rs 4.58 lakh sq mts.
With the order, the government has given clear indications that it is going ahead with the acquisition of the land, which was mired in controversy, after difference of opinion for and against the educational project.
“”The Collector will now issue an order to the land acquisition officer to take possession of the land in question as per the provisions of the Act. Hearing of the parties in respect of compensation in lieu of the acquired land will take place soon”, Apte told Herald.
He said his office has issued a corrigendum as the notice issued under Section 7 of the LA Act inadvertently mentioned the name of North Goa Collector when it ought to have been the district Collector, South.
The Chief Minister during his visit to Cuncolim had cleared the decks for the acquisition of the land for the proposed NIT project. He said his government has reduced the land acquisition from 12 lakh sq mts to 4.58 lakh sq mts taking into account the land scarcity in the State.
Land acquisition for the proposed NIT was set in motion during the previous Congress regime, but the proposal raked up a huge controversy over the huge land proposed for acquisition falling within Cuncolim and Balli villages.
