Panaji: Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Monday urged locals and opposition parties not to create trouble over govt’s plan to build IIT Goa’s campus on govt land at Farmagudi. He said the project will not affect the Katamgal Dada shrine located in the vicinity.Sawant said he asked Ponda MLA Ramakrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar and Priol MLA Govind Gaude to speak to residents and address concerns.“I don’t know why people are objecting. I have also paid obeisance at Katamgal Dada’s feet. I believe in him, and my specific opinion is that the area around Katamgal Dada’s shrine will not be touched even a bit. Not even by mistake will we touch that space because I know that the people’s sentiments, and even mine, are attached to it,” Sawant said.Before finalising a 4.5-acre plot at Farmagudi for an IIT Goa campus, govt had considered six other sites — Loliem, Melauli, Cotarli-Sanguem, Rivona, Keri, and Codar — but each faced local protests. Since 2016, IIT Goa has operated from a temporary campus at GEC, Farmagudi.On Sunday, locals led by RG’s St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar and Ponda councillor Venkatesh Naik gathered near the Katamgal Dada shrine on the plateau to offer ‘garhane’ (collective obeisance) against the campus project. Locals said the land has been revered for generations as the deity’s abode.“People should not unnecessarily protest the IIT project. This project is coming up on govt land. People should not unnecessarily instigate sentiments. We will not disturb Katamgal Dada,” Sawant said.
