Protests against IIT Goa campus turn violent as police, villagers clash

Protests against a proposed IIT-Goa campus took a violent turn on Wednesday as police lathicharged the villagers who had set up a human chain at the entrance to the site.

The police also used tear gas shells to clear the way for government surveyors to demarcate the site in the forested area outside the Shel-Melauli village.

Retaliating, the protesters pelted stone at the authorities, which led to injuries on both sides.

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"Police lathicharged protesters to control the crowd that had stopped the State Land Survey officers from continuing the demarcation work for the proposed IIT project," a police officer told reporters.

The villagers had stayed put at the site on Tuesday as well and the authorities had returned without demarcating it. However, they decided to clear the area on Wednesday.

“The police tried to forcefully enter by stomping over the women who were lying down to block the path. They then began firing tear gas shells and a lathicharge before retreating,” Shubham Shivolkar, a leader who was present at the site, was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

Earlier in the day, Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant said that while the government was open to discuss and address the villagers’ concerns, the IIT-Goa campus will be built at the present site.

“The demarcation is going on. It will continue. The people will (eventually) calm down. We have told them we are willing to discuss,” Sawant said.

The locals have been protesting against the IIT project for the past four months, claiming that the facility would rob them of their land. The chosen land is thickly forested interspersed with cashew trees that villagers claim have sustained them for generations.

IIT Goa has currently been functioning from a temporary campus at the Goa Engineering College. Two sites previously identified by the state government, in Canacona and Sanguem sub districts, for setting up of a permanent campus for IIT were also scrapped on account of protests.