Goa, Sept. 13 -- A delegation of villagers from Codar on Thursday evening met local MLA and Water Resources Minister Subhash Shirodkar to register their opposition to the proposed Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) campus in their village, warning it would destroy cultivable land, forests, and local livelihoods. The villagers submitted a memorandum urging the Minister to shift the project elsewhere. They pointed out that 80 per cent of the 12 lakh sq m of land earmarked for the project is cultivable, while another five lakh sq m is forested land. "Our livelihood depends on this soil. If the IIT comes here, Codar will lose its identity as an agricultural village," they stated.

The delegation, comprising Vishram Gavkar, Saish Gavkar, Vai...