Villagers in Goa fight to keep ancient community land from university

Loliem, India

FOR Meena Varik, a teacher in Loliem village in southern Goa, the Bhagwati Moll plateau has always been community land meant for cattle grazing, temple processions and a wildlife reserve.

But if the state has its way, the plateau on a hillock abutting the village could be the site for an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and the land given over to classrooms, laboratories and hostels for hundreds of students and faculty members.